Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Change of HPV vaccination rates in Japan: the effect of individual notifications implemented by local governments

  • Original Article
  • Published:
International Journal of Clinical Oncology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

In Japan, in June 2013, The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) decided to temporarily suspend its official recommendation for the participation of girls in the national immunization program. The HPV vaccination rate in Japan soon declined to below 1%. In October 2020, the MHLW notified that the municipalities could and should begin to individually notify girls and their parents targeted for routine vaccination. We have examined how that type of individual notification has affected the number of vaccinations.

Methods

From 12 municipalities (with a combined total population of approximately 4.06 million), we collected vaccination data for all girls who attended grades 6 through 10 from April 2019 to March 2021. We analyzed the number of initial-round vaccinations that occurred by month and the timing and the subjects of the individual notifications.

Results

The annual vaccination rate for tenth-grade students in 2020 in the six municipalities that had implemented individual notification was 9.46% (342/3618), which was significantly higher than the rate of 3.22% (54/1676) in the three municipalities that had not implemented individual notification (p < 0.001). On the other hand, the annual vaccination rate for the sixth to ninth-grade students in 2020 in the six municipalities that had implemented individual notification was not significantly (p = 0.56) higher than the rate in the three municipalities that did not: 1.43% (197/13,785) versus 1.33% (83/6260), respectively.

Conclusion

This study clearly demonstrates the importance of providing information for routine vaccination directly to the targets and their parents.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

HPV:

Human papilloma virus

WHO:

The World Health Organization

MHLW:

Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare

References

  1. Ferlay J, Ervik M, Lam F, Colombet M, Mery L, Piñeros M, Znaor A, Soerjomataram I, Bray F (2020) Global cancer observatory: cancer today. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer. https://gco.iarc.fr/today. Accessed 15 Jan 2022.

  2. Yagi A, Ueda Y, Kakuda M et al (2019) Epidemiologic and clinical analysis of cervical cancer using data from the population-based Osaka Cancer Registry. Cancer Res 79:1252–1259

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Nakagawa S, Ueda Y, Yagi A et al (2020) Corrected human papillomavirus vaccination rates for each birth fiscal year in Japan. Cancer Sci 11:2156–2162

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Japan, The future response of routine vaccination for Human Papillomavirus Infection. https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/newpage_22419.html. Accessed 15 Jan 2022.

  5. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Japan, Human Papillomavirus Infection—Cervical Cancer and HPV Vaccine. https://www.mhlw.go.jp/bunya/kenkou/kekkaku-kansenshou28/. Accessed 15 Jan 2022.

  6. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Japan, Notification and Administrative Notice regarding HPV Vaccine. https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/kenkou/kekkaku-kansenshou19/notifications.html. Accessed 15 Jan 2022.

  7. World Health Organization. Cervical cancer elimination initiative. https://www.who.int/initiatives/cervical-cancer-elimination-initiative. Accessed 15 Jan 2022.

  8. Bruni L, Saura-Lázaro A, Montoliu A et al (2021) HPV vaccination introduction worldwide and WHO and UNICEF estimates of national HPV immunization coverage 2010–2019. Prev Med 144:106399

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Corcoran B, Clarke A, Barrett T (2018) Rapid response to HPV vaccination crisis in Ireland. Lancet 391:2103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Hansen PR, Schmidtblaicher M, Brewer NT (2020) Resilience of HPV vaccine uptake in Denmark: decline and recovery. Vaccine 38:1842–1848

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (World Health Organization). Safety of HPV vaccines https://www.who.int/groups/global-advisory-committee-on-vaccine-safety/topics/human-papillomavirus-vaccines/safety. Accessed 15 Jan 2022.

  12. Arbyn M, Xu L, Simoens C et al (2018) Prophylactic vaccination against human papillomaviruses to prevent cervical cancer and its precursors. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 5:9069

    Google Scholar 

  13. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) Summary Report, 2015. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/downloads/min-archive/min-2015-10.pdf. Accessed 15 Jan 2022.

  14. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) Summary Report, 2015. https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/newpage_06462.html. Accessed 15 Jan 2022.

  15. European Medicines Agency, HPV vaccines: EMA confirms evidence does not support that they cause CRPS or POTS, 2015. https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/news/hpv-vaccines-ema-confirms-evidence-does-not-support-they-cause-crps-pots. Accessed 15 Jan 2022.

  16. French National Agency for Medicines and Health Products Safety, Vaccination contre les infections à HPV et risque de maladies auto-immunes: une étude Cnamts/ANSM rassurante, 2015. https://ansm.sante.fr/actualites/vaccination-contre-les-infections-a-hpv-et-risque-de-maladies-auto-immunes-une-etude-cnamts-ansm-rassurante-1. Accessed 15 Jan 2022.

  17. Yoon D, Lee JH, Lee H et al (2021) Association between human papillomavirus vaccination and serious adverse events in South Korean adolescent girls: nationwide cohort study. BMJ 372:m4931

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Fukushima W, Hara M, Kitamura Y et al (2022) A nationwide epidemiological survey of adolescent patients with diverse symptoms similar to those following human papillomavirus vaccination: background prevalence and incidence for considering vaccine safety in Japan. J Epidemiol 32:34–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Suzuki S, Hosono A (2018) No association between HPV vaccine and reported post-vaccination symptoms in Japanese young women: results of the Nagoya study. Papillomavirus Res 5:96–103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Sekine M, Yamaguchi M, Kudo R et al (2021) Suspension of proactive recommendations for HPV vaccination has led to a significant increase in HPV infection rates in young Japanese women: real-world data. Lancet Reg Health West Pac 16:100300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Yagi A, Ueda Y, Ikeda S et al (2021) The looming health hazard: a wave of HPV-related cancers in Japan is becoming a reality due to the continued suspension of the governmental recommendation of HPV vaccine. Lancet Reg Health West Pac 18:100327

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Ueda Y, Yagi A, Abe H et al (2020) The last strategy for re-dissemination of HPV vaccination in Japan while still under the suspension of the governmental recommendation. Sci Rep 10:16091

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Miyoshi A, Ueda Y, Yagi A et al (2022) Challenge to improve Japan’s deplorable HPV vaccination rate by local government actions. J Obstet Gynaecol Res 48:1233–1239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Ueda Y, Katayama K, Yagi A et al (2021) The chasm we must cross in Japan for re-promotion of the HPV vaccine. Cancer Prev Res (Phila) 14:683–686

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Ueda Y, Yagi A, Ikeda S et al (2018) Beyond resumption of the Japanese Government’s recommendation of the HPV vaccine. Lancet Oncol 19:1563–1564

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr. GS Buzard for his constructive critique and editing of our manuscript. We also note our appreciation of the local governments for their support in data collection. A grant (#21ck0106562s0102) from the Japanese Agency for Medical Research and Development and a Health and Labour Sciences Research Grant (grant number 20EA1025) from the MHLW supported this research.

Disclosure statement

This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board and Ethics Committee of the Osaka University Medical Hospital. The authors have no conflict of interest to declare. TK have received a research fund from MSD.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-2, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan

    Asami Yagi, Yutaka Ueda, Satoshi Nakagawa, Mamoru Kakuda, Kosuke Hiramatsu, Ai Miyoshi, Eiji Kobayashi, Toshihiro Kimura & Tadashi Kimura

  2. Center for Cancer Control and Information Services, National Cancer Center, 5-1-1, Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-0045, Japan

    Sayaka Ikeda

  3. Clinical Psychology, Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University, 1-2, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan

    Kei Hirai

  4. Center for Public Health Sciences, National Cancer Center, 5-1-1, Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-0045, Japan

    Tomio Nakayama

  5. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine, 3-9 Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 236-0004, Japan

    Etsuko Miyagi

  6. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, 1-757 Asahimachi-dori, Chuo-ku, Niigata, 951-8510, Japan

    Masayuki Sekine & Takayuki Enomoto

Authors
  1. Asami Yagi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yutaka Ueda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Satoshi Nakagawa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Sayaka Ikeda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Mamoru Kakuda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Kosuke Hiramatsu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Ai Miyoshi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Eiji Kobayashi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Toshihiro Kimura
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Kei Hirai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Tomio Nakayama
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Etsuko Miyagi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. Masayuki Sekine
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. Takayuki Enomoto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  15. Tadashi Kimura
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yutaka Ueda.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

No author has any conflict of interest

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yagi, A., Ueda, Y., Nakagawa, S. et al. Change of HPV vaccination rates in Japan: the effect of individual notifications implemented by local governments. Int J Clin Oncol 27, 1651–1659 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10147-022-02213-w

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10147-022-02213-w

Keywords

Search

Navigation