These new recommendations should enable more girls and women to be vaccinated,”while maintaining the necessary level of protection“, indicated the chairman of the committee, Dr Alejandro Cravioto, at a press conference.
National immunization programs can, however, continue to use two doses if they deem it necessary, he said.
Women over 21 and the immunocompromised
In addition, WHO experts continue to recommend two doses six months apart for women over 21 years of age.
“As for immunocompromised people, mainly people with HIV, we recommend giving them at least two or even three doses, so that they are fully immunized.“, underlined Alejandro Cravioto.
A woman dies approximately every two minutes from this disease.
More than 340,000 women died from cervical cancer in 2020. It is the fourth most common cancer in women worldwide.
“A woman dies approximately every two minutes from this disease.“, said the chairman of the WHO committee.
About 90% of new cases and deaths worldwide in 2020 occurred in low- and middle-income countries.
Target 90% of 15-year-old girls by 2030
“I am a firm believer that eliminating cervical cancer is possible“, underlined in a press release Dr Princess Nothemba Simelela, assistant director general of the WHO.
“This single-dose recommendation has the potential to move us faster towards our goal of having 90% of girls aged 15 immunized by 2030.“, she estimated.
In 2020, global coverage with a 2-dose vaccination schedule was only 13%.