The Department of Health (DH) has urged women in Hong Kong to avail of its efforts to prevent and fight cervical cancer, the ninth most common female cancer in Hong Kong, as part of the Cervical Cancer Awareness Month activities this January.
It advised women to undergo regular cervical screening to detect the cancer early enough to stop its spread, and for parents to have their female children to take the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.
The celebration is in support of the designation of January as Cervical Cancer Awareness Month by the International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization (WHO) to raise public awareness and scale up efforts to fight cervical cancer, thus eliminating it as a public health problem in the next century.
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PINDUTIN DITO |
As most cervical cancers are caused by persistent infection with high-risk HPV, the DH advised women to:
- Receive the HPV vaccine before sexual debut;
- Undergo cervical screening regularly;
- Practice safe sex (e.g. using condoms and avoiding multiple sexual partners) to prevent HPV infection; and
- Refrain from smoking, as it may increase the risk of cervical cancer.
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“HPV vaccines help prevent cervical cancer and are effective in preventing high-risk HPV, including HPV 16 and 18, with protection rates over 90 per cent,” the DH said in a statement.
“Since the 2019/20 school year, the DH has been providing free HPV vaccinations to eligible Primary Five schoolgirls under the Hong Kong Childhood Immunization Program,” it added.
The DH's School Immunization Teams provide the first dose of the HPV vaccine to Primary Five female students at their schools, and the second dose will be given to them when they reach Primary Six in the following school year. The second dose coverage rate of HPV vaccination for Primary Six girls in the school year 2022/23 was about 92 per cent.
For girls under the age of 18, the DH launched a one-off catch-up HPV vaccination program on December 2, 2024, for female Hong Kong residents born between 2004 and 2008 (i.e. girls aged 18 or below as in 2022, and not covered by the existing program) to receive free HPV vaccinations.
All participants in must have been registered with eHealth. Details of the program, which lasts for about two years, can be found on the DH's website: https://www.chp.gov.hk/en/features/108084.html.
The DH also urged women to undergo regular cervical screening, because those infected with HPV or in the early stages of cervical cancer do not have noticeable symptoms.
The Population Health Survey 2020-22 conducted by the DH revealed that merely half of the eligible women in Hong Kong had ever been screened for cervical cancer.
The DH promotes the Cervical Screening Program to the general public through various channels, such as television, radio, social media, the DH's website and posters. Members of the public can also access information about cervical screening via the "@DH mobile application".
Since 2023, the DH has been regularly sending notifications to women of the appropriate age group through the Cervical Screening Information System and the eHealth mobile app to remind them to undergo regular cervical screening.
In Hong Kong, Maternal and Child Health Centers (MCHCs) and Woman Health Centers of the DH, non-governmental organizations and private healthcare providers provide cervical screening services. Common screening tests for cervical cancer include the HPV test of cervical samples collected by healthcare professionals and/or Cytology test (also called cervical smear or Pap smear).
At the same time, the Primary Healthcare Commission is actively promoting the "life course preventive care plan".
“Based on the core principles of prevention-oriented and whole-person care, a personalized preventive care plan will be formulated to address the health needs of citizens across different life stages with reference to the latest evidence,” the DH said.
“Family Doctors and primary healthcare professionals will collaborate to provide health advice and education on chronic diseases and cancer screening, as well as healthy lifestyles according to age, sex and personal factors such as family history, including cervical cancer.”
Women who wish to receive cervical screening at MCHCs can schedule an appointment through the 24-hour hotline 3166 6631. For further information on cervical cancer and screening, please visit the DH's website: https://www.cervicalscreening.gov.hk/en/index.html.