The HPV vaccination for children, adolescents and young adults will be free from February 2023 from 9 to 21 years old. It must be available from general practitioners and, depending on the state, from additional vaccination centers, as well as for all military service in the armed forces up to 20 years.
The additional costs for the vaccine amount to about 8.3 million euros, said Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) in Vienna on Monday. Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner (ÖVP) announced that the vaccination would be actively advertised to the position committees. Vaccination is done on a voluntary basis by military doctors.
Target vaccination rate of 90%
By expanding the free range, the aim is to achieve a vaccination rate of around 90 percent. It is currently estimated to be 40 percent in the young prime target group, reports Peter Lehner, co-chair of the conference of social insurance companies. Until now, a reduced cost price is due from the age of twelve and from the age of 18 the full cost price up to more than 600 euros. The goal is to prevent several hundred cancers every year.
There is no medicine for the virus
In Austria, about 400 women get cervical cancer each year and 130 to 180 die from it, Rauch said. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the trigger in almost all cases. Contraceptives that transmit viruses through skin contact would not offer protection here and there are no medicines against HPV. But a vaccination with an effect of 90 percent, according to the Minister of Health. Cancers in the middle of the throat and genitals are also caused by HPV. They affect both men and women.
Vaccine protects against nine types of HPV
The vaccination provides protection against nine types of HPV, is recommended for boys and girls from the age of nine and is given twice at six to twelve month intervals. Previously, three doses were recommended from age 18, but now there would be enough data to maintain a two-dose schedule until age 21.
“The HPV vaccination is one of the most important measures in preventing many types of cancer,” said Paul Sevelda, president of Cancer Aid. It has been used for almost 20 years and can only be described as safe and highly effective after “billions of experiences worldwide”. The expert stressed that vaccination at a young age is ideal, preferably from the fourth grade of primary school. “Ideally, you should be vaccinated by age 15.”
With the new approach, the vaccination gap caused by Corona can hopefully be closed and there will also be a catch-up effect by addressing young people who have not been reached before. Getting vaccinated against HPV is also wise at a later age.
Registration in the electronic vaccination booklet
The provision until the age of 21 is “a good step that is also financially manageable”, says Rauch. The vaccination should be entered on the electronic vaccination card so that better data on vaccination coverage is available in the future, Lehner said.
Source: Krone
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