Japan to Give Free HPV Vaccinations to Those Who Missed Them

Tokyo, Nov. 15 (Jiji Press)--A panel of Japan's health ministry Monday agreed to give women free vaccinations against the human papillomavirus, or HPV, the main cause of cervical cancer, if they missed the country's free vaccination program.

The special "catch-up" measure is expected to start in the next fiscal year or later for women who passed the eligible ages without taking free HPV vaccines while the government suspended its active recommendation of the program.

The panel discussed the range of women who should be covered by the measure and how to deal with women who paid to receive inoculations after losing their eligibility for the program.

Many members took the view that the catch-up measure should cover women born between fiscal 1997 and fiscal 2005, who were eligible during the government's suspension of the active recommendation of the vaccination program.

In April 2013, Japan introduced the free HPV vaccination program for girls in the sixth grade of elementary school to the first grade of high school.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]