China will roll out free vaccine shots for human papillomavirus (HPV) to eligible women and girls nationwide, in the first addition to its national vaccination programme since 2008.
HPV shots will be added to the government funded National Immunization Program this year, said the National Health Commission’s deputy director, Shen Hongbing, at a press conference on 11 September.
The programme’s expansion was driven partly by budget savings resulting from China’s falling birth rate, local media reported.1 Policy makers also spotlighted the launch of a cheaper, local alternative to the most protective HPV jab on the market, which will help with the costs of the rollout.
The news was broadly welcomed in China, although some criticised the country’s sluggish pace at joining more than 100 nations that have added HPV shots to their national schedules in the past two decades.23 Critics said that the delay reflected aggressive pricing by multinational drug makers in the absence of local competition, …
