Several physicians yesterday urged the government to make human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccinations more available, not only to young females, but also to males, to reduce the prevalence of HPV infection and HPV-induced cancers in the younger population.
“Both men and women can be infected with HPV. Statistics show that HPV-induced illnesses affect more than 14 million women around the globe annually, with 14.7 million suffering from genital warts, 530,000 from cervical cancer, 21,000 from vaginal or vulvar cancers and 13,000 from anal cancer,” Mackay Memorial Hospital’s Division of Gynecologic Oncology director Chang Chih-long (張志隆) told a press conference in Taipei yesterday afternoon.
However, Chang said there are also 17.31 million men worldwide who are afflicted with HPV-related diseases each year, including 17.3 million people with genital warts and 11,000 with anal cancer.
A 2010 US study found that giving both males and females aged between nine and 26 a HPV vaccination could further reduce the incidence rate of HPV-induced conditions, Chang said.
“It is estimated that the approach could decrease the number of women infected with genital warts by 1.8 million and the number of men by 3 million, while reducing the numbers of cervical cancer precursors and cervical cancer by 70,000 and 30,000 respectively,” he said.
Formosa Cancer Foundation deputy chief executive director Chang Chia-lun (張家崙) said there is a growing awareness around the world that both males and females should be vaccinated against HPV.
“For example, Australia launched a national HPV vaccination program in 2007 that offered government-funded vaccinations for 12 to 13-year-old girls. The program was expanded to include boys in the same age range in 2013 and further to young men aged 14 and 15 last year,” Chang Chia-lun said.
Chang Chia-lun said that in contrast, only six cities and counties in Taiwan provide government-funded vaccines to female junior and senior-high school students: New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Chiayi cities, and Kinmen and Chiayi counties.
Just one administrative region, Kinmen County, also offers free HPV vaccinations to teenage boys, he added.
Chang Chia-lun said the government should consider a similar nationwide HPV vaccination program to Australia’s, given that Taiwan’s cervical cancer incidence rate (10.2 cases per 100,000 women) is far higher than that of Australia (4.9), the US (5.2) and Japan (9.8).
“In addition, an upward trend has been observed in the number of Taiwanese women aged between 20 and 34 who suffer from cervical cancer precursors, from 632 women in 2008 to 738 in 2011,” he said.
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