Xiamen to offer free HPV vaccinations to girls to help prevent cervical cancer

Free human papillomavirus vaccinations will be provided to girls aged 13 to 14 and a half in Xiamen, Fujian province, until the end of 2022 to help prevent cervical cancer.

The city's health commission announced the move this month, making it the second region in the country to adopt such a policy. The first was Juungar Banner in Ordos, in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, which did so last month.

Xiamen's Haicang district is expected to kick off the free HPV vaccination project by the end of this month, local news website reported.

Girls will be offered a domestically made two-valent HPV vaccine offering protection from two types of HPV, the Xiamen health commission said in a notice. All community health service centers in the city will be able to provide vaccinations based on lists of names provided by schools, where students and parents will be able to apply.

The cost of the vaccines and the service fees will be paid by the local government. Girls aged 9 to 14 need two doses of domestic HPV vaccine, with each dose usually costing 329 yuan ($48.15).