Vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV), a known cause of cervical cancer, was approved on July 18, confirmed by the China Food and Drug Administration and GlaxoSmithKline.
The said approved vaccine, reported by Beijing Youth Daily,is a bivalent vaccine intended for woman between the ages of 9 and 25. There is also a quadrivalent vaccine for women of other ages and men, but that vaccine is still awaiting approval.
This bivalent vaccine has three injections. People take the second injection one month after the first one, and five months later the final one， reports Beijing Today.
Insiders pointed out that although the vaccine is important, it is classified as a level one vaccine in the National Immunization Program in the coming decades.
The estimated price of the HPV vaccine is 1,000 yuan per injection.
The HPV vaccine became available in the US a decade ago. At that time, for many countries-- India and Nigeria, for example -- the cost of Caccinations agains HPV and hepatitis was still too high to make them available for the population in general.
Chinese distribution had to wait for the CFDA’s final evaluation of the vaccine’s ability to block cervical cancer, which took a decade to confirm.
