Minpapi gives much-needed information on HPV vaccinations for young girls

The human papillomavirus (HPV) is the main cause of cervical cancer. The HPV vaccine can prevent most cases of cervical cancer if given appropriately.

The government’s HPV vaccination policy

The Japanese government made the decision to resume the active promotion of HPV vaccinations last month. More municipalities are expected to send out official letters encouraging women to get vaccinated, especially girls eligible for free HPV vaccinations. Girls ages 11 to 16 can currently be vaccinated free of charge at public facilities in their residential cities. However, the Ministry of Health stopped actively promoting HPV vaccinations back in 2013 due to the physical side effects a number of recipients reported. This policy shift largely affected the awareness of the vaccination being available for Japanese women and girls.

After reviewing accumulated international data, the Ministry of Health recently stated that there are no good reasons to prevent the government from encouraging HPV vaccinations. Japan’s current HPV vaccine rate is at 0.6%, whereas many developed countries globally have vaccination rates of more than 60%. Every year, about 10,000 women in Japan develop cervical cancer, and 2,800 of them die from it.

Minpapi steps in for women missing HPV information

Gynecologist Kanako Inaba founded Minpapi in 2017 because she was saddened by the fact many women in Japan suffer from this semi-preventable disease. Minpapi is a foundation-run organization that leads a project consisting of a group of doctors who want to change this situation. The Minpapi project aims to reduce the number of women affected by HPV by sharing accurate information and promoting the efficacy and safety aspects of vaccinations.

Minpapi started to collaborate with Care.me, a period tracker app, this year. They now distribute articles related to the HPV vaccine and cervical cancer screening to users of targeted ages. The articles supervised by doctors aim to help young women to educate themselves about cervical cancer prevention.

A study reports 2.6 million girls from 16 to 21 years old have missed their opportunity to get free HPV vaccinations while the government kept silent about the vaccination program. The vaccination is still available for about 50,000 yen at the cost of recipients at clinics. However, this is an inaccessible price for most young women. HPV vaccinations for males are also available, but all recipients must pay the full price. These issues still need to be discussed to ensure wellness for all people living in Japan.

Japan’s worsened situation around HPV vaccination for the last eight years teaches us how we are truly responsible for communicating information to others, especially to the younger generations. Through educational efforts such as Minpapi, we need more people to consider scientific facts and reliable data. And as we know from experience in other areas, lack of communication brings enormous risks.