Cervical cancer vaccine costly

By ZINA KOIM
HEALTH and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) Minister Dr Lino Tom says the Gardasil vaccine for cervical cancer is expensive which is an issue the Health Department is facing. Tom was responding to whether the department has any plans to bring the vaccine into the country.
“At the moment, we are having difficulties in funding the current vaccine budget, so it’s actually a question of affordability right now,” he said.
“The papilloma (HPV) is quite an expensive vaccine and it comes down to its affordability.”
Tom added that the Health Department had ran some cheaper programmes in the country.
“One of them is self-testing. Women can actually go the clinic and do a one-stop-shop self-testing,” he said.
It has been carried in Madang, Mt Hagen in Western Highlands and Goroka in Eastern Highlands.
“Women can come in and do a self-test in a space which gives them privacy,” Tom said.
“They have the result after 30 minutes to one hour. And if it shows evidences of the papilloma virus or the first stages of cancer, they can have treatment there instead of going home.”
He put the success rate at 99 per cent.
“That is the programme we are promoting because it is quite cheap. Injection is good but it’s quite expensive,” Tom said.