UK-based healthcare company GSK announced Monday that it has launched the first cervical cancer vaccine on Chinese mainland, thepaper.cn reported.
The first batch of Cervarix has passed quality control inspections and has been distributed to meet the demand of women in the Chinese mainland, the report said.
China's Food and Drug Administration recommended that the age for females to take Cervarix is between 9 and 26 and the price is for 580 yuan ($86.23) per shot. Three shots are needed to complete the vaccination.
The price is lower than that of the same type of vaccine in Hong Kong, where the cost of three shots is 3,000 Hong Kong dollars ($384.16), the report said.
"Cervical cancer poses a serious threat to women. Every year in our country, 100,000 women are diagnosed with the disease, and 30,000 of them die," thepaper.cn quoted Qiao Youlin, a cancer expert and a professor of oncology research at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, as saying.
Regarding the age limit, Lu Dan, a gynecologist at the Beijing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, told the Global Times on Monday that "the vaccine is effective for all women of childbearing age, including those who are sexually active."
"Even after being diagnosed with cervical cancer, the vaccine can also be effective depending on the subtype," Lu added.
However, Lu dismissed the myth that the earlier you get the shots, the more effective the vaccine is.
