China News Service, Shanghai, January 11 (Reporter Chen Jing) Cervical cancer is currently the most likely cancer to be eliminated at the public health level through comprehensive prevention and control measures, and the public is in strong demand.

Merck, a well-known biopharmaceutical company, said in an interview with reporters on the 11th that despite the continuous impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic and the increase in global vaccine confidence, which has pushed up the demand for HPV vaccines in various countries, the supply of HPV vaccines to China is still at a low level. It is increasing year by year and will increase substantially in 2022 to meet the urgent needs of Chinese women for health.

　　It is reported that the Office of the National Patriotic Health Campaign Committee and the Office of the Healthy China Action Promotion Committee have selected 15 cities (districts) in China as the first batch of pilot cities for the Healthy China Action Innovation Model, and 15 cities (districts) are candidate pilot cities.

This pilot work will comprehensively promote the implementation of comprehensive cervical cancer prevention and control strategies in the pilot areas, realize the integration and overall implementation of primary, secondary and tertiary prevention, improve the efficiency of resource use, and strive to achieve: 15 years old among the resident population in the pilot areas. The HPV vaccine population coverage rate for pre-school-age girls is over 90%, the rate of cervical cancer screening for women aged 35-45 is over 70%, and the standard treatment rate for patients with cervical cancer and precancerous lesions is over 90%. Achieve the elimination goal of less than 4/100,000 cervical cancer incidence.

　　January is International Cervical Cancer Awareness Month.

A related report in 2021 shows that among Chinese women aged 15-44, cervical cancer has become one of the leading causes of cancer deaths among women in this age group in China.

Almost all cervical cancers (99.7%) are associated with genital HPV infection, which is a necessary condition for cervical cancer.

At present, scientists have discovered more than 200 types of HPV, which are divided into high-risk and low-risk types according to their carcinogenicity.

The most common HPV infections among Chinese women are high-risk HPV52, 16, and 58, while low-risk HPV6 and 11 can cause genital warts and other diseases.

　　During the interview, the reporter learned that the peak age of HPV infection in Chinese women has a bimodal distribution, 17-24 years old and 40-44 years old respectively. The HPV vaccine has the best protection effect on people who have never had sex.

It is reported that bivalent and quadrivalent HPV vaccines are suitable for women aged 9-45.

The bivalent vaccine protects against two high-risk types of HPV16 and 18 that can cause cervical cancer, while the quadrivalent vaccine covers both low-risk types of HPV6 and 11, which may cause 90% of genital wart infections.

The nine-valent HPV vaccine is currently the vaccine that covers the most HPV types on the market and is suitable for women aged 16-26.

The more comprehensive the vaccine coverage, the better the protective effect.

　　Merck's official website shows that by the end of 2021, the company has benefited more than 16.5 million Chinese women of school age through the quadrivalent and nine-valent HPV vaccines.

It is understood that for the current surge in market demand, Merck is also constrained by the complexity of vaccine production, a four-year production cycle, indispensable quality control, and major infrastructure investment.

Ms. Tian Anna, President of Merck China, said in an interview that in the face of growing demand, Merck is striving to increase the supply to the Chinese market every year, and the supply of HPV vaccines is increasing year by year.

　　Previously, according to public information, the nine-valent HPV vaccine took only 8 days from the acceptance of the marketing application to the conditional approval for marketing, setting a record for the fastest new drug import registration approval.

Professor Qiao Youlin from the School of Medicine and Public Health of Peking Union Medical College explained that the domestic market has accumulated consumer demand for many years, and the HPV vaccine is extremely scarce.

　　According to reports, Merck is also actively conducting clinical trials to expand the indications of the HPV vaccine, in order to cover more age groups and groups and protect the health of more Chinese people.

(Finish)