Tianjin hospital launches one-stop HPV clinic

On International Women’s Day, the human papillomavirus infection clinic at Tianjin Medical University General Hospital was inaugurated by directors of the hospital and government officials.

The clinic offers early prevention, vaccination, diagnosis, and treatment for human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer.

"We want to provide one-stop health services to all women," said Xue Fengxia, head of the obstetrics and gynecology department at Tianjin Medical University General Hospital.

HPV, a sexually transmitted disease, is the most common viral infection of the reproductive tract. Research shows that over 80 percent of women have been infected with HPV at least once.

Although not all strains of HPV are carcinogenic and less than 1 percent of patients with HPV will develop cervical precancerous lesions and cancer, about 110,000 new cases are diagnosed in China annually.

Over the last two decades, statistics indicate that cervical cancer has the second highest morbidity and mortality rate in China, and the diagnosis of cervical cancer has been observed at a much earlier stage.

The HPV vaccine offers highly effective protection to women against cervical cancer, yet in China, the HPV vaccination rate is less than 4 percent.

It is suggested by WHO and International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) that girls in pre-adolescence (age 9 to 14) are at the best stage to get the HPV vaccination, but only 1 percent of girls in China get this vaccination at that age.

"The risk of HPV and cervical cancer is still being neglected," Xue said, "reversing this situation is a major purpose of this clinic. After all, it is a shame to see women die of a totally foreseeable and preventable disease.”

On International Women’s Day, the clinic held free walk-in consultations. Volunteers provided free explanations and advice on HPV-related matters.

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