Beijing to offer free HPV vaccines to seventh-grade girls

BEIJING -- The Chinese capital plans to administer free human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines to seventh-grade girls starting in September this year, joining several provincial-level regions and cities that have announced similar initiatives since 2021.

The vaccination campaign will utilize the domestically produced 2-valent vaccine with an aim to effectively reduce the risk of cervical cancer among women, according to a plan jointly released by the Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control and other relevant authorities, on Thursday.

By the end of March, girls currently in grade six are expected to be assessed for willingness to receive the vaccine, and by Oct 31, the first dose of the vaccine will be administered to the target group, per the plan.

The move is a response to a global strategy launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) to ensure that by 2030, 90 percent of girls are fully inoculated against HPV by the age of 15.

Cervical cancer was the fourth most common cancer among women worldwide in 2022, according to the WHO. Against this backdrop, China made free HPV vaccinations accessible to approximately 40 percent of girls aged 13 to 14 in 2024, as part of its ongoing work to tackle cervical cancer, according to the National Health Commission.