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Survey says state should pay for HPV vaccinations

A survey released by the Health, Welfare and Environmental Foundation yesterday suggested that most women think the government should pick up the tab for human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccinations.

The survey asked 935 women in several major metropolitan areas a series of questions relating to the HPV vaccine. When given to young girls, the vaccine lowers the risk of cervical cancer later in life by affording protection against a number of strains of HPV.

Of those surveyed, 58.8 percent said the government should cover the full cost of the vaccination (approximately NT$4,000), while 29.1 percent said the vaccination should be partially funded by the government. Only 1.6 percent said individuals should pay for their own vaccinations, while 10.6 percent said they were "not sure."

Fifty-eight percent of respondents said they would be willing to pay for their daughters' vaccinations. That figure rises to 77.8 percent if the vaccine is subsidized by the government.

You San-lin (游山林), a public health researcher at Academia Sinica who presented the findings at a press conference yesterday, likened the HPV vaccine to the hepatitis B vaccines that have been widely administered since their discovery.

However, the HPV vaccine is expensive and the foundation said a trust fund of more than NT$1 billion would be needed to fund a program of vaccinations.

The government already picks up the tab for pap smears for women over the age of 30 triennially. However, only 66 percent of the women surveyed said they had had a pap smear in the past three years.
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