Even though active recommendation for HPV vaccination has restarted, Japan's rates have not recovered

Abstract

AbstractJapan has a particularly critical situation surrounding its collapsed HPV vaccination program for preventing HPV‐caused cervical cancers, a problem exacerbated by the lack of a national immunization database. We have determined the year‐to‐year HPV vaccination uptake by Japanese females and analyzed by birth fiscal year (FY) the monthly number of people receiving initial HPV vaccination. Our analysis covers the period from the start of public subsidies in 2010 to September 2023, using data provided by local governments. We calculated the cumulative number of monthly immunizations for those unimmunized as of April (the beginning of each vaccination year). The monthly number of initial HPV vaccinations was highest in August for every FY from FY 2010 to FY 2023; a second vaccination peak tended to occur in March when the vaccination year ended. The highest number of August vaccinations occurred in FY 2011, followed (in order) by 2012, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2013. In Japan's ongoing catch‐up vaccination program for young women, the monthly number of vaccinations increased in August 2022 but then slowed the following year. After FY 2021, the cumulative vaccination coverage of subjects unvaccinated at the beginning of the vaccination year but subsequently covered by routine immunizations was slightly improved. FY 2021 was when the governmental recommendations for HPV vaccination were resumed. More recent vaccination rates are considerably lower than those in FY 2011–2012 when vaccinations were first fully endorsed. Paralyzing HPV vaccination hesitancy, which began in FY 2013, will linger in Japan in FY 2024.