You must not have thought: China started to receive free cervical cancer vaccines

Guess when, where and who this photo happened?

This is the site where a junior high school girl in Zhungeer Banner, Ordos City, Inner Mongolia was vaccinated for free cervical cancer vaccine on August 1. Geer Banner became the first area in the country to receive cervical cancer vaccine free of charge.

According to CHINA DAILY (http://t.cn/A6UmkNPY), Zhungeer Banner has provided free influenza vaccine and pneumonia vaccination services for the elderly. Part of the Ten-Point Plan [Promoting School Girls’ Health] plan.

In the past 10 years, Zhungeerqi has carried out free cervical and breast cancer screenings for women aged 35 to 64, and found that the HPV infection rate is very high. Zhungeer Banner Maternal and Child Health Hospital screened more than 80,000 women and found 55 cervical cancer patients. This kind of persistent screening has also popularized the knowledge of cervical cancer prevention and treatment among local women. Therefore, this free cervical cancer vaccination program is very popular, and 80% of female middle school students are willing to receive it.

Zhungeerqi's free cervical cancer vaccination project is divided into two steps: the first step is to solve the past population, that is, nearly 10,000 female students aged 13-18 years old will be vaccinated for free; the second step will be included in routine work. Only 13-year-old girls entering junior high school are vaccinated for free. The free cervical cancer vaccine given by

this time is an imported bivalent vaccine. The market purchase price is about 600 yuan per dose, and a total of 3 doses are required. After

completes the pilot program in Zhungeer Banner, all women aged 13 to 18 in Ordos will receive cervical cancer vaccine for free.

Globally, cervical cancer vaccine was launched in 2006, and its effect was quickly recognized globally. At present, 104 countries have included it in free vaccination, the main target is women of a certain age, and some countries also include men.

The World Health Organization believes that vaccination is a key strategy to prevent cervical cancer. In February 2019, the WHO launched a global action plan to accelerate the elimination of the threat of cervical cancer. It recommended that women aged 9-14 be vaccinated against cervical cancer. The plan goal is: By 2030, the vaccination rate of girls under 15 years old in all member countries will reach 90%.

During this year’s national "two sessions", Yu Luming, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, vice chairman of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and director of the Beijing Municipal Medical Security Bureau, also submitted a proposal suggesting that cervical cancer vaccine be included in the national immunization program for girls aged 9 to 14 for free Vaccination. The proposal has caused widespread concern.

The text before Dr. Tao's opinion in this article is compiled from the English reports of Yuan Hui and Chen Meiling in China Daily (see the link in the text for details). The first picture is from Yang Yan of Zhungeer Qirong Media Center.

What does Dr. Tao think about this matter? I have four points of view:

First: This is a good milestone and will become a model for reference in other regions. In other areas where money is not bad, if you want to carry out free cervical cancer vaccination activities, this is a ready experience.

Second: Unfortunately, in terms of the severity of various vaccine-preventable diseases, cervical cancer is not in the forefront. Pneumococcal infections of infants and young children, type B Haemophilus influenzae infections , chickenpox, etc., all require more free vaccines than cervical cancer.

Third: my country’s policymakers think they are short of money. my country's own positioning is a developing country, so policy makers do not subconsciously think that my country's vaccine welfare should be on par with developed countries.

Currently, every child aged 0-6 in my country can receive 22 doses of 10 vaccines free of charge, which will reach 164 yuan after adjustment at the end of 2019. Starting from 2020, based on the calculation of 16 million children born each year, 2.6 billion annual vaccine funding will be needed. Is 2.6 billion a heavy financial burden for our country? I don't think so, but many decision makers think so. The 13-valent conjugate vaccine

to prevent pneumococcus has just been made domestically (the second in the world) and requires 4 doses. The single dose is available for 600 yuan. The Hib vaccine to prevent Haemophilus influenzae type B has been localized by many manufacturers for a long time, and 4 doses are required, and the single-dose supply price is as low as 65 yuan. The varicella vaccine also realizes the localization of multiple manufacturers, usually one dose, the lowest single dose is 135 yuan. The bivalent vaccine in the cervical cancer vaccine has just realized localization (alsoIt is the second in the world), women aged 9-14 only need 2 doses, and the single dose is 329 yuan. It can be seen from

that if any of the above four vaccines are included for free, it will double or more on the original basis for vaccine procurement (of course, if the government purchases, it may be at least half the price). Although the absolute amount is actually not large, the decision makers are not prepared for this.

Fourth: The free cervical cancer vaccination program in Zhungeer Banner is a spark, but it cannot start a prairie fire. It depends on the absolute affordability of local finances and the values ​​of decision-makers. Places like Shanghai, Beijing, etc. may have both of these points, which can afford cervical cancer vaccination free of charge, but from a professional point of view, children’s Hib vaccine and varicella vaccine will rank ahead of cervical cancer vaccines. If Dr. Tao makes the decision if.