What is HPV vaccine and why Cuba took it so much to apply it

Cuba will introduce for the first time in the country the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), the main cause of cervical cancer, reported The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

This type of cancer constitutes the fifth cause of death in women in Cuba, and the second in the group of 15 and 44 years. It is a disease that can be prevented and treated if it is diagnosed on time.

What is HPV and what types of cancer cause?

Human papillomavirus (HPV) are a group of more than 200 viruses that are transmitted through vaginal, anal or oral sexual relations.

According to him National Cancer Institute (INC) of the United States «almost all people who have sex are infected with HPV within a few months or years of starting sexual activity.»

Many of HPV infections disappear alone over the years but some high risk can become persistent and cause cancer. It is estimated that this virus causes 630,000 cancers in the world every year, according to INC figures.

HPV causes six types of cancer: anus cancer, cervical cancer, oropharynx cancer, penile cancer, vagina cancer and vulva cancer.

Cuba took almost two decades to apply the vaccine

HPV vaccination began to be applied in the world in 2006. «It is a key preventive measure to reduce the incidence of cancer and other diseases. It is safe, effective and its early administration increases benefits,» the Cuban gynecologist news told Martí News Lesvia Palacios.

In 2023 all Latin American countries had implemented the virus vaccine, except Venezuela, Martinica, Haiti, Nicaragua and Cuba.

That same year the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) advertisement that since 2019 they were developing their own HPV vaccine, but that it would not be ready at least until 2030.

Studies in different population groups in Cuba conducted by the MINSAP evidenced a high frequency of high -risk HPV type infection (those that cause cancer) in Cuban women. Many of the women who participated had presented a normal cytological test.

In the cytological test «the typical HPV cells can be detected or the coilocytes but not the virus as such. The hybrid capture test does not exist in Cuba,» added the doctor.

Palacios clarified that in recent years there is a shortage of reagents in Cuban hospitals and health centers to carry out this test, in the middle of the worst economic crisis that the country has gone through in decades and that has directly affected the health system on the island .

Health authorities then said that the vaccine was very high cost. The most recent report by the Panamerica Health Organization (PAHO) on HPV vaccines indicates that in 2024 the price was $ 2.9 (bivalent) and $ 10.48 (quadrivalent).

Who will they vaccinate in Cuba?

It is estimated that the vaccine prevents up to 90 % of the cancers caused by virus infection.

The HPV vaccination scheme, according to the INC, «is recommended to girls and boys of 11 or 12 years, although it is possible to start vaccination at 9 years.»

Cuba said he would vaccinate in 2025 to 68,524 9 -year -old girls. They did not refer to the children’s vaccine.

Dr. Fernando Álvarez Pérez, an obstetrician-gycologist with almost 50 years of practice in the US, told Martí News that «any effort to prevent HPV» is essential and pointed out that «the vaccine has proven to be effective.»

Álvarez Pérez explained that in patients from Cuba that he has attended in his consultation he observed that «they were being treated 20 years late.» The expert believes that all the advances currently in the world in terms of prevention and diagnosis are scarce or there are no in Cuba.

Dr. Palacios, who worked more than two decades in the Cuban health system, says that for doctors it is very frustrating not to have how to follow up even patients with a previous diagnosis, either a HPV or any other anomaly.

«The Cervical Cancer Program has completely fallen into Cuba. You know how many women are stopped without knowing whether or not they have a problem in the neck due to lack of reagents to do the cytological test. There are many that even have a previous diagnosis and Those that cannot be followed up, «he said.

«Prevention has been lost and follow -up has been lost,» said the specialist.