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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Taipei expanding HPV vaccine to junior-high boys
Taipei health officials hold placards promoting the city government-funded human papillomavirus vaccines for junior-high school boys in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNA
By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter
Starting in September next year, male junior-high students in Taipei will be eligible for city government-funded vaccinations against the human papillomavirus （HPV）, the Department of Health said yesterday.
The city has since 2018 been providing free HPV vaccines to female junior-high students in compliance with the Health Promotion Administration’s （HPA） policy, Taipei Department of Health Commissioner Chen Yen-yuan （陳彥元） said.
As the HPV vaccination rate for female junior-high students in 2021 reached 91 percent — comparable to the WHO’s target of having 90 percent of girls fully vaccinated by age 15 — the city decided to expand the eligibility to boys — the WHO’s recommended secondary target — next year, he said.
“Boys who have enrolled in Taipei’s junior-high schools this year would be eligible for the government-funded 9-valent HPV vaccine in September next year,” Chen said.
The health department, in cooperation with the education department and junior high schools, are to hold educational courses to inform the public about HPV prevention and vaccine safety, as well as distribute leaflets for parents to understand the importance and safety of the HPV vaccine, he said.
Lee Ping-ing （李秉穎）, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at National Taiwan University （NTU） Children’s Hospital, said that HPV infection is not only associated with higher risks of cervical cancer; men can also develop HPV-associated cancers of the mouth, throat, penis or anus, as well as genital warts.
It is a popular misconception that HPV can only be transmitted through sexual intercourse, he said, adding that it can also spread through oral sex, mouth-to-mouth, or other intimate contact.
Getting vaccinated is the most effective way to prevent HPV infection, he said.
Chen Tseng-cheng （陳贈成）, a physician at NTU Hospital’s Department of Otolaryngology, said epidemiological data suggest that more than 80 percent of sexually active women and men would acquire at least one type of HPV infection in their lifetime, and the prevalence of HPV infection in men is higher than in women, so both genders are recommended to get the vaccine.
With about 10,000 boys enrolled in the city’s junior high schools this year, the expansion of the free vaccine program is expected to cost NT$20 million to NT$30 million （US$634,679 and US$952,018） each year, Chen Yen-yuan said.
Separately, asked about Taipei’s plans, HPA Director-General Wu Chao-chun （吳昭軍） said that if HPV vaccination for boys is feasible and other local governments can afford to, his agency would not oppose the policy, but it would not be implemented nationwide.
The WHO’s Global Strategy for the Elimination of Cervical Cancer as a Public Health Problem has set a “90-70-90” target for 2030, which is “90 percent of girls are fully vaccinated with HPV vaccine by age 15,” “70 percent of women are screened with a high-performance test by 35 and again at 45,” and “90 percent of women identified with cervical disease receive treatment.”
As the vaccination rate for female junior-high students has just reached more than 90 percent, the HPA needs time to observe the effectiveness of the policy before expanding vaccine eligibility to boys, he said.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
