Including the human papillomavirus (HPV) virus in the Expanded Immunizations program is of the utmost importance when Venezuela is the country in Latin America and the Caribbean with more cases of cervical cancer, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), said infectologist Pediatrician Antonio González Mata.
It is advisable to vaccinate HPV from nine years in both sexes. In many countries, a single dose is sufficient, especially if applied at an early age while two doses are administered regardless of age, it stands out.
At present, the vaccine that is advisable
In addition, the laryngeal papillomatosis (respiratory tract tumors) decreases, “which is a very dramatic, very sad situation, especially in children”, and with the application of the vaccine from the age of nine, the health problem is markedly minimized, warned the also delegate of the Latin American Pediatric Infectology (Sople).
Although they began recommending the vaccine to people between 9 and 15 years, after it determined that it can be administered even at the age of 45, he said ..
In the United Kingdom, after the vaccine began, 200 % cases have been reduced cervical cancer. “It is definitely part of the solution against the disease produced by the HPV virus, he said.
González Mata highlighted the importance of care and prevention, since in many cases there are no symptoms of the disease and in others they become evident when the disease has advanced and can make genital bleeding and pain, he concluded.
Private sector has been applied since 2016
In Venezuela, the use of HPV vaccine in 2016 was approved, being one of the few countries of the Americas that has not officially included it in the Expanded Immunizations Program of the Public Health System, according to PAHO.
In December 2023, the Ministry of Health reported that they would begin to vaccinate HPV in the second semester of the following year. Even the regional director of the State Lara, Javier Cabrera, also announced to date, is still a promise.
Meanwhile, the cost of the vaccine in the private sector of Gardasil 9 and Gardasil 4 vaccines, respectively, ranges between $ 60 and $ 300 amount that for the majority of the population is made uphill to pay it.
More affordable through the OPS rotary background
As of July 2025, the Rotator fundOr the PAHO will make the HPV9 vaccine availability, facilitating countries access more affordable.
In this way, it becomes an additional ally to redouble vaccination efforts in the Americas, in the prevention of cancers related to HPV, allowing countries to expand the range of protection against this virus, ”said Santiago Cornejo, executive manager of the PAHO regional rotary funds.
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