Women from low-income families to get free HPV jab

Women between the ages of 18 and 26 from lower-income families can now get free human papillomavirus - better known as HPV - vaccination to fight cervical cancer.

Up to Oct 30, Temasek Foundation will be fully funding any out-of-pocket costs for the vaccination for eligible women who hold a valid blue or orange Community Health Assist Scheme (Chas) card. The vaccinations can be done at Chas general practitioner clinics.

Normally, one dose of HPV vaccination would cost up to $23 for orange or blue Chas cardholders at polyclinics. A full round of the vaccination requires three doses.

Cervical cancer is the 10th most common cancer among Singaporean women and the fourth leading cause of deaths in women aged 15 to 44, despite being one of the most preventable cancers.

The Temasek Foundation HPV Immunisation Programme, partnered by Singapore Cancer Society (SCS), was launched yesterday at the SCS Cancer Rehabilitation Centre.

Parliamentary Secretary for Health Rahayu Mahzam, who attended the event, said that there remains a lack of awareness and uptake in some population groups, such as women from low-income backgrounds.

"This (programme) will greatly increase the accessibility of the HPV vaccine by removing cost barriers associated with the vaccination and will go a long way towards improving vaccine uptake in this group."

Other than women aged between 18 and 26 who have not been vaccinated, those between 27 and 45 are also eligible for the programme as long as they had received their first dose by the age of 26. A survey by Temasek Foundation in August last year found that among 406 women, the HPV vaccination rate was just 19.2 per cent.

University student Farhana Juhar, 22, who attended the event yesterday to be one of the first to be vaccinated as part of the programme, said she was motivated to get the jab after reading about a cervical cancer survivor online.

Temasek Foundation deputy chairman Richard Magnus said: "No daughter, sister, wife or mother should be put at risk of developing cervical cancer."

The foundation has committed up to $2 million to fund the programme, and expects more than 20,000 women to benefit.

The Ministry of Health's national school-based HPV vaccination programme was rolled out in 2019 to vaccinate female secondary school students, and more than 90 per cent of Secondary 1 female students have received their HPV vaccinations since then.

Ms Rahayu said: "Through such collaborations that seek to educate individuals and facilitate their access to potentially life-saving vaccinations, we can better empower women to take ownership of their own health."