Cervical cancer, a public health problem, could be eliminated by 2030. To reach this target you need vaccination, and immunization at young age is much more efficient. In almost four years, only a little over 200,000 people have been vaccinated with at least one dose.
The little girls vaccination went extremely stupid in 2008 Photo: Shutterstock
The news that Romania is the country in the European Union where most deaths are registered by cervical cancer does not seem to worry too much, although this type of cancer has been eradicated in Australia, and many other countries that have intervened by vaccination have extremely low disease rates. There are European states in which anti-HPV vaccination has been done for 9 years-Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, Malta; in others at 10 – Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, Portugal, Sweden; At 11 years, vaccination begins in Cyprus, France, Lichtenstein, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and at 12 years in Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland, Spain, Slovakia, etc.
147 countries had implemented, by 2024, the Anti-HPV vaccination program for teenagers, the target of specialists responsible for public health being that by 2030 cervical cancer would decrease to an incidence of under 4 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. Other targets to be reached by 2030 are: 90% of girls to be completely vaccinated against HPV until the age of 15, 70% of women are tested with a high performance test between 35 and 45 and 90% of women identified with CCU (precancer) to receive treatment and care.
“When should you fix the bicycle helmet?”
The risk of HPV infection is high with the onset of sexual life, for both women and men, for this reason vaccination is recommended for maximum results before this time.
To understand “why at 11 years old?”, The age at which anti-HPV vaccination begins in Romania, public health specialists within the National Institute of Public Health propose, in a Guide on HPV vaccination and communication for vaccination, to make a simple analogy. Let’s ask ourselves when we should fix the children the bicycle helmet and choose from four response variants: a – before they climb the bicycle; B – when I ride the bike on the street; C – when I see the car heading directly to them; D – After the car hits them.
What we should know is that both men and women can be carriers and transmitters to their virus partners who can, at some point in life, cause a type of cancer. Most sexually active adults will become infected with HPV at one point, although it is as true that not all HPV strains can give cancer, and those who have the misfortune are infected with one of the problem stems will only have signs, in the advanced stage of the disease.
Because the infection has no symptoms, many people do not know they have it. About half of women diagnosed with cervical cancer, estimates the specialists, acquired the infection up to 20 years, and 75% of them, up to 30 years.
Anti-HPV vaccination is effective even for people already infected with HPV, who remain susceptible to infections with the types of virus they have not yet been exposed to. Vaccination is also effective even if you have already started your sex life or children, because you may not have exposed to all types of high-risk virus.
And if in the case of women the highest fear is not to develop cervical cancer following HPV infection, men should know that, besides being carriers and transmitters, they also risk developing anal cancer, genital warts, etc.
Disaster campaign in 2008
The first anti-HPV vaccination campaign was started in Romania in 2008 and it was a real disaster, anti-vaccine opinions and theories of all kinds leading to an extremely low immunization rate. The target group was made up of girls in the 6th and 7th grades, by vaccination performed in schools, and the vaccine coverage was only 2.6%.
In 2017, anti-HPV vaccination was introduced in the national vaccination program, the target group being the 11-14 year olds, family doctors returning the task of administering the vaccine, but only at the parents’ request. In 2020, anti-HPV vaccination was started for all 11-14 years in the national vaccination program, and in 2021 the age segment was extended up to 18 years. During this time the supply of vaccine had problems, the situation being directed only towards the end of the period. In August 2023 a Government decision was adopted on the compensation of the vaccines, and from December 2023 the compensation scheme actually started to apply, the vaccine can be purchased from pharmacies and administered to the family doctor. Moreover, for the age category 11-19 years, the boys were introduced, the vaccine being 100% compensated, also from December 2023 defending a new category of beneficiaries of compensated anti-HPV vaccine, namely women between 19-45 years (compensation 50% of the price).
After the implementation of the clearing system, an increase in the vaccination rate was also seen, although the figures are not impressive today.
According to IMP data, between January 1, 2020 – September 30, 2024, at least one dose 201.242 persons (in category 11 – 15 years, the vaccine is administered in two doses, from 15 years being required). Of these, 184,327 are women, 125,121 receiving the vaccine before implementing the compensation (most administrations, over 80,000, were in the age category 11-14 years, who benefited from the DSP vaccine, followed by category 15-18 years-over 41,500, by people 19-26 years-1,643; 27-45 years-978; – 43).
After implementing the compensation, the data increased greatly in the category 27-45 years (in which the vaccine is compensated 50%), vaccinating over 21,000 people, while in adolescents the figures are only 16,847 people at 11-14 years and 10,447 at 15-18 years.
Interesting are the data on anti-HPV vaccination in male persons, a total of 16,915 vaccinated persons between January 1, 2020-September 30, 2024. Before compensation, when practically doses for boys, including teenagers, it had to be bought, only 746 people were vaccinated, and from December 2023 to September 2024 (since the HPV vaccin. age between 11 – 19 years), another 16.169. Most doses were administered in the age categories 11-14 years (6.990), respectively 15-18 years (7,927), ie those categories that benefit from compensation. From the category 19-26 years, 487 boys were vaccinated, 27-45-703, and over 46 years-45 men.
