On April 23rd, at the cervical cancer prevention and treatment summit forum hosted by the Guangdong Provincial Association of Preventive Medicine, Xia Jianhong, director of the Women's Health Department of the Guangdong Maternal and Child Health Hospital, stated that the first batch of free HPV vaccination for eligible female students in Guangdong Province was carried out from September to November 2022, covering over 90% of first year female students in the province. About 660000 people have completed the first dose of vaccination, and the second dose will start soon. Guangdong is the first province in China to fully implement free HPV vaccination for eligible girls at the provincial level. Last year, the project was launched for the first time and exceeded the target, and the recipients did not experience serious adverse reactions. Xia Jianhong, one of the project leaders, said that the progress of the project has been smooth since its launch. The original plan was to achieve a 60% vaccination rate, but it unexpectedly reached 90%. This indicates that Guangdong parents have strong health awareness and high cooperation. In China, cervical cancer is a major "killer" of women's health, The incidence rate and mortality rate of female reproductive tract malignant tumors in 15-44 years old ranks first. Immunizing eligible girls with HPV vaccine is the most cost-effective and effective measure to prevent cervical cancer. Xia Jianhong introduced that cervical cancer is caused by the persistent infection of the high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV), which is mainly transmitted through sexual activity. Therefore, free vaccination is given to girls under the age of 14 who have not yet had sexual activity, stimulating their immune system to produce antibodies, which is equivalent to wearing a "safety helmet" early and in a timely manner. At the end of January this year, ten departments including the National Health Commission, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs jointly released the "Action Plan for Accelerating the Elimination of Cervical Cancer (2023-2030)", which once again clarified that through three-level prevention measures such as HPV vaccination, screening, and treatment, cervical cancer can be effectively prevented and controlled, and ultimately eliminated. In response to the national plan to eliminate cervical cancer, Xia Jianhong stated that Guangdong Province will continue to carry out the free vaccination project with guaranteed funding. In 2022, the project selected bivalent HPV vaccines produced by Wantai Biological Company for vaccination. Currently, the project team is formulating a vaccination budget for 2023, and will enter the bidding and procurement process. Two existing domestic bivalent HPV vaccine production companies and two imported vaccine companies will compete together, and it is expected that the procurement can meet the vaccination quantity of over 700000 girls. (New News Agency)