11-year-old girls to receive HPV vaccination nationwide

Disease Control Department chief Dr Amnuay Gajeena said the HPV vaccine, which reduces the risk of developing cervical cancer in later life, had been certified as the country’s 11th vaccine in the past 17 years.

The move was approved by national drug-list development sub-panel.

Amnuay said the HPV vaccine procurement would be completed and ready for distribution within 2017 with the aim of vaccinating about 400,000 girls.

“This age is the best time for girls to get the vaccination, as the WHO [World Health Organisation] advised,” he said.

He added that the National Vaccine Institute’s subcommittee on immunity promotion had recommended the HPV vaccine for use in a national-level immunity promotion as the results of a 2014 pilot project in Ayutthaya province showed no side effects from the vaccine.

Amnuay said the move would greatly benefit the country because HPV was an effective vaccine against cervical cancer.

He said the National Health Security Office had submitted the budget plan for the initiative for the next fiscal year.

“Thailand has more than 10,000 new cervical cancer patients [a year], with most the result of the human papilloma virus [HPV] – and some 5,000 women a year are dying from the disease,” he said. 

“The HPV vaccine will curb the number who die from the disease besides screening for cervical cancer.”