The project to expand the age of NIP will be implemented

in the first quarter of the new year

KDCA has secured a budget of 21.5 billion won, and the notice will be revised from January to March next year

Expanding from the current 12-year-old girl to 17-year-old girl

The project to expand the age of free vaccination (NIP) against human papillomavirus (HPV) promised by President Moon Jae In will be implemented within the first quarter of next year.

 

The KDCA plans to implement it immediately as soon as the notification revision process necessary for expanding the subject of HPV vaccine NIP is completed between January and March next year.

 

In this case, free HPV vaccinations, which are currently applied only to girls aged 12, will be expanded to those aged 12 to 17, and low-income women aged 18 to 26 will also be able to benefit from free vaccinations.

 

An official from the vaccination management department explained in a phone interview with Dailypharm on the 13th, "We are currently collecting expert opinions on the HPV vaccine NIP age expansion project and will proceed with the administrative notice process for the new year." President Moon Jae In promised to expand the free HPV vaccine, called cervical cancer prevention vaccine, to under the age of 17, in the process of directly responding to the public to mark the fourth anniversary of the national petition on August 19.

 

President Moon said that women aged 18 to 26 would be vaccinated free of charge from low-income families and gradually expand the scope.

 

The KDCA, the ministry in charge of vaccination, has taken follow-up measures after President Moon's promise to expand the HPV vaccine NIP.

 

The KDCA succeeded in winning 21.5 billion won as a regular budget for next year by starting to secure the budget needed immediately to expand NIP.

 

The KDCA is in the midst of establishing related guidelines and promotional materials and establishing a vaccination system with the aim of implementing the project in the first quarter of next year.

 

All procedures were carried out after collecting opinions from experts, and the revision of the notice to expand the NIP was intended to be completed within January to March of the new year.

 

From the time the revision of the notification is completed, the age of free HPV vaccination will be expanded, and free vaccination will not be retroactively applied if vaccinated before the revision of the notification.

 

Vaccines included in the NIP are expected to be GSK Cervarix and tetravalent MSD Gardasil.

 

MSD Gardasil 9, a 9-valent vaccine, has also obtained domestic approval, but has not yet been applied to the NIP program.

 

The cervical cancer prevention vaccine has excellent preventive effects in adolescence without sexual contact and is known to maintain antibodies for about 30 years.

 

Cervical cancer is evaluated as a 100% preventable carcinoma among currently known cancers.

 

When the KDCA completes the revised notification of the expansion of HPV vaccine NIP targets early next year, the free vaccination age range will be significantly expanded from 12-year-old girls, but the number of additional vaccinations will not increase significantly immediately.

 

The HPV vaccine has been applied with NIP since 2016, and girls born between 2003 and 2004 were the first subjects, as children in the age group to be expanded this time are eligible.

 

In other words, among female teenagers aged 13 to 17, those who missed the past NIP vaccination period will be able to benefit.

 

According to KDCA, the first vaccination rate for those born in 2003 in the first year of HPV vaccine NIP application was 61.5%, which allows female adolescents who have not been vaccinated so far to benefit.

 

72.6% of those born in 2004 and 87.2% of those born in 2018 have already received vaccines.

 

A KDCA official said, "The expansion of the NIP age can be implemented only by revising the notice without revising the law." He said, "We will soon promote the expansion of the target age and implement it as a revision of the notification early next year."