There is a need to apply the HPV vaccine NIP Men Under 17

President Moon promises free vaccination for girls under 12 → girls under 17

The key is to pass the amendment to the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Act

President Moon promises free vaccination for girls under 12 → girls under 17.

 

In addition, there is a need for free vaccination of male teenagers of the same age group.

 

HPV, which causes cervical cancer, claims that the country needs to expand vaccination because it can infect both men and women through sexual contact and causes various diseases such as men's penile cancer, anus cancer, and mouth cancer.

 

Recently, President Moon promised to expand the national vaccination age range of the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil 9 to women under the age of 17.

 

This means the expansion of Gardasil 9's NIP coverage.

 

The possibility of additional benefit for men under 17 years of age is checked for the effectiveness and side effects of Gardasil 9.

 

The application of the HPV vaccine to men under the age of 17 was necessary when Choi Hye-young, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, proposed some revisions to the Act on the Prevention and Management of Infectious Diseases in November last year.

 

Representative Choi Hye-young's proposal includes expanding the mandatory vaccination age range for HPV vaccines from "girls under 12" to "all children and adolescents under 18." Cervical cancer is the only cancer vaccinated against 99% or more.

 

However, the vaccination price reached up to ￦600,000, making it difficult to expand the vaccination rate.

 

HPV vaccines are rapidly expanding from vaccinations for women only in the past to those for both men and women today.

 

In fact, the WHO, the ACS, and the NCI have announced plans to raise the vaccination rate of HPV to 80% for young men and women aged 13 to 15.

 

The CDC ACIP and the IPVS are also recommending vaccinations for girls and boys aged 11 to 12.

 

In addition, 40 out of 113 countries in the world that have confirmed the HPV vaccine are supporting the expansion of male vaccinations.

 

Other countries that support vaccination include the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Italy and Austria.

 

In addition, 35 out of 36 OECD countries introduced HPV vaccine as a national vaccination, and more than half of them expanded their vaccination targets to South Korea.

 

Choi, who proposed the bill, was pleased with President Moon's promise to expand the age of HPV vaccinations, but expressed regret that male teenagers under the age of 17 are not included.

 

Some criticize that most female teenagers under the age of 17 who fall within the national prevention range of HPV vaccine have already received free vaccination benefits from the designation of the NIP in 2016, which is not effective.

 

This is why some point out that free vaccination should be carried out not only for women under the age of 17 but also for men of the same age to increase the effectiveness of NIP.

 

An official from the domestic pharmaceutical industry said, "It will take years for President Moon to expand the application of HPV vaccine NIP." He said, "HPV disease is increasing the prevalence rate of men, so the government should consider a policy to include male adolescents in the scope of NIP." Rep.

 

Choi Hye-young said, "I would like to express my deep appreciation for President Moon's direct response.

 

Cervical cancer is the only cancer that can be prevented by vaccination.

 

However, the free vaccination target was limited to 12-year-old girls, which was not effective enough." She added, "We will conduct legislative activities focusing on the infection prevention law, which has been proposed, including the issue of boys being excluded from the free vaccination list for cervical cancer."