Male junior-high school students would be eligible for free human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccinations starting next month, extending the program for girls and making Taiwan the first country in East Asia to offer boys the full two-dose series.
The Health Promotion Administration (HPA) has offered publicly funded HPV vaccinations to all female junior-high school students since 2018, HPA Director-General Shen Ching-fen (沈靜芬) told a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
“Starting this September, we will also provide HPV vaccinations to male junior-high school students, bringing the total number of beneficiaries [this year] to more than 200,000,” said Shen, who took office on Aug. 1, succeeding Wu Chao-chun (吳昭軍).
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
Taiwan is the first country in East Asia to offer male students the full two-dose HPV vaccination series free of charge, as countries such as South Korea and Japan have yet to provide it for boys, Cancer Prevention and Control Division Director Lin Li-ju (林莉茹) said.
The program’s extension should benefit 110,000 male students by the end of this year, Lin said.
For those paying out of pocket, each dose of the HPV vaccine costs at least NT$6,000, and people aged nine to 14 need two doses to complete the full series.
Whether male or female, anyone can contract HPV, and studies show that each person has about a 50 percent to 90 percent chance of being infected in their lifetime, Lin said.
“About 90 percent of those infected will naturally clear the virus within a year through their immune system, but nearly 10 percent can develop what is known as a persistent infection,” she said, adding that HPV is a DNA virus with more than 200 types.
Persistent infection with some high-risk types of HPV can lead to cervical cancer in women, as well as anal, head, and neck and genital cancers in men and women, while some low-risk types can cause genital warts, she said.
“Studies have shown that vaccination can prevent at least 70 percent of HPV infections,” she said, adding that full vaccination provides protection for at least 10 years.
Lin said vaccination rates among female students entering junior-high school have been increasing since the program’s launch in 2018, rising from 75.2 percent in its first year to more than 90 percent from 2022 onward.
One reason the HPA has achieved a high coverage rate is by administering publicly funded HPV vaccinations directly in schools, saving time and increasing convenience for students and parents, she added.
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