The Department of Health today announced that a one-off catch-up programme for human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination will be launched on December 2 to gradually boost the herd immunity of the community against high-risk HPV infection, thereby preventing cervical cancer.

The programme, scheduled to last for about two years, will be implemented in three phases. The first phase will start on December 2 and targeted recipients will be full-time female students, including secondary sections of special schools, studying Secondary 5 or above in Hong Kong.

Schools can engage participating outreach vaccination teams to provide free HPV vaccines to eligible female students. The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) will provide vaccines for the outreach vaccinations along with a subsidy of $105 per dose to doctors.

The second phase, which targets female Hong Kong residents born between 2004 and 2008 and studying in local post-secondary institutions or universities, is anticipated to be launched in the first quarter of next year.

For the third phase, which is expected to start in the first half of next year, female Hong Kong residents born between 2004 and 2008 and have completed their studies in Hong Kong will be the targeted group. Details of the second and third phases will be announced in due course.

In response to the World Health Organization's (WHO) recommendation, the CHP launched an HPV vaccination programme for Primary 5 and 6 school girls under the Hong Kong Childhood Immunisation Programme (HKCIP) during the 2019-20 school year.

The vaccination rate for this group of school girls remained high over the past five years. In the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years, the two-dose coverage rates of HPV vaccination for Primary 6 school girls reached 91%, which is much higher than the 70% interim target coverage for completion of two doses of HPV vaccination as stated in the Hong Kong Cancer Strategy 2019.

In 2022, the WHO further suggested to provide catch-up vaccinations to girls aged between nine and 18. The CHP’s Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases has also agreed to expand the target group of HPV vaccinations to girls aged 18 or below.

The Government therefore launched the one-off catch-up vaccination programme by phases, starting December 2, for female Hong Kong residents who were born in 2004 or after, and have not been covered by the HKCIP. An eligible person can receive two doses of vaccination, while immunocompromised people have to receive three doses of vaccination, which are free of charge.

The eligible people participating in the programme must have been registered with eHealth. Additionally, participants and their family members or caregivers may access the vaccination records under the programme and various government vaccination schemes through the eHealth mobile app.

Currently under the HKCIP, all the vaccination records at the Maternal & Child Care Centres since 2007 and outreach vaccination activities at all primary schools since 2013 are recorded in the eHealth system. Those who have registered with eHealth can access individual's vaccination records.

Noting that cervical cancer is one of the 10 most common cancers and a leading cause of cancer deaths for local females, the department stressed that HPV vaccines are very effective against high-risk HPV, which commonly causes cervical cancer.

Click here for more information about the HPV vaccination catch-up programme.