The Minister of Health, Nísia Trindade, announced that the vaccine against HPV, a virus associated with more than 90% of cervical cancer cases, will be applied in a single dose in the Unified Health System (SUS).
The recommendation is for a specific audience: children and adolescents aged 9 to 14. Immunosuppressed people and victims of sexual violence, who can also receive the vaccine on the public network, will continue with the previous schedule (two or three doses).
The minister also instructed states and municipalities to carry out an active search for young people up to 19 years old who have not received any dose of the vaccine so that they can update their vaccination.
The ministry’s technical note included a new group in the National Immunization Program (PNI): people with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (PPR), of any age.
You can get vaccinated free of charge through SUS:
- Girls and boys aged 9 to 14
- People aged 9 to 45 with special clinical conditions, such as those living with HIV/AIDS, solid organ or bone marrow transplant recipients and cancer patients (immunosuppressed)
- Victims of sexual abuse
- People with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (PPR)
Single dose is recommended by WHO
The decision follows a recommendation from the World Health Organization (WHO) made in 2022. At the time, experts reviewed evidence of the effectiveness of two or three doses in the recommended schedules and concluded that one dose of the vaccine already offered significant protection against HPV.
According to the WHO, the adoption of the single-dose scheme for the age group of 9 to 20 years can help increase vaccination coverage, include other priority audiences and facilitate the introduction of the HPV vaccine into immunization programs in countries of middle and low income. In Brazil, adherence remains below target.
Renato Kfouri, vice-president of the Brazilian Society of Immunizations (SBIm), explains that several studies have been following women who received one dose of the vaccine with women who received two or three and the data is robust.
“This has made it possible for many countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, several Latin American countries and now Brazil, to also adopt the single-dose regimen of the HPV vaccine for boys and girls up to 20 years of age,” explains the infectious disease specialist and pediatrician.
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HPV and the importance of vaccination
HPV is responsible for 99% of cervical cancer cases, the third most common among women in Brazil, without considering non-melanoma skin tumors. Currently, cervical cancer is considered capable of eradication through vaccination, screening and treatment of lesions.
“We continue with the goal of eliminating cervical cancer. It is possible, through vaccination and screening of women, to eliminate cancer through vaccination, mainly”, highlights Renato Kfouri.
If the vaccine is important for cervical cancer, why vaccinate boys too? Protection extends to other types, such as cancer of the penis, anus, oropharynx, vagina and vulva. Furthermore, By vaccinating the male public, we were able to interrupt the chain of transmission.
There are around 200 types of viruses described, some that infect the anogenital region, and around 20 have the potential to develop certain types of cancer.
“The quadrivalent vaccine that we have in the SUS protects against four types of viruses: 6 and 11, which are responsible for 90% of condylomata acuminata, or warts, are completely benign lesions; and 16 and 18, which are the viruses that cause almost 70 % of cervical cancer cases”, explains Neila Speck, president of the National Specialized Commission on the Lower Genital Tract of the Brazilian Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics Associations (Febrasgo).
The private network already has the nonavalent vaccine available, which protects against five more types of viruses: 31, 33, 45, 52 and 58, increasing protection in almost 90% of cervical cancers.
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