Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination has reduced instances of cervical cancer and its mortality by about 70 percent among women in Taiwan, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said in a statement yesterday following the APEC Conference on Cervical Cancer Elimination.
Health officials from 13 APEC member states attended the one-day event in Taipei.
Former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), now a research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Genomics Research Center, spoke about Taiwan’s ongoing fight against cervical cancer at the conference, the HPA said.
Photo courtesy of the Health Promotion Administration
The WHO launched the Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative with a 2030 goal to inoculate 90 percent of girls under 15, test 70 percent of women aged 34 to 45 for cervical cancer at least twice and successfully treat 90 percent of people with the disease, the agency said.
Taiwan pledged to take part in the initiative, it said.
Citing WHO data, the HPA said that globally in 2022, 650,000 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer, including 350,000 who died from the disease.
Taiwan is among the top performers in the fight against cervical cancer among APEC and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development members, it said.
Starting in 1995, the nation rolled out free annual Pap tests for women aged 30 or older and in 2008 began subsidizing HPV vaccines for girls aged 12 to 15, the HPA said.
The policies brought a significant reduction in cervical cancer prevalence and mortality rates, it said.
This year, cervical cancer was the 10th-most common type of cancer and eighth-most common cause of death for women, down from being at the top of the lists, the HPA said.
This year, Taiwan is to launch new measures against HPV, including jabbing boys aged 12 to 15, reducing the age of eligibility for subsidized Pap smears to 25 and offering one free HPV test to women at ages 35, 45 and 65, it said.
The new policies are designed to achieve herd immunity in Taiwan, it said.
Taiwan’s successful experience in suppressing cervical cancer is an example of the nation’s potential to contribute to welfare across the world, the HPA said.
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