Health experts are urging the government to expand access to the nonavalent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine following the release of new local data that could reshape the Philippines’ cervical cancer prevention strategy.
A study conducted by the University of the Philippines National Institutes of Health and funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) found a significant shift in the country’s HPV genotype landscape, prompting calls for broader vaccine coverage.
The findings were presented at the Philippine National Cancer Summit.
Led by Dr. Sheriah Laine de Paz-Silava of the UP Manila College of Medicine, the DEFEAT HPV Study is the most comprehensive community-based HPV research in the Philippines since the 1990s.
“When we talk about cervical cancer, it’s an infectious kind of cancer. HPV is the necessary cause,” de Paz-Silava said. “And because cervical cancer is infectious, elimination is possible.”
Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among Filipino women, with around 8,000 new cases and 4,000 deaths annually.
The study enrolled nearly 1,200 women from urban Manila and rural Cavite. Researchers found that 11 percent of participants were infected with high-risk HPV types, with women in urban areas facing a 1.62 times higher risk of infection.
One of the study’s key findings was that HPV-52—not HPV-16 or HPV-18 as previously assumed—was the most prevalent high-risk genotype among those screened.
“We expected that type 16 and 18 would be most common,” de Paz-Silava said. “But we saw that type 52 was the most common detected genotype. This is consistent with the epidemiology in Asia.”
Only 23.9 percent of infections involved HPV-16 or HPV-18, which are covered by earlier-generation HPV vaccines.
In contrast, 53.7 percent of infections involved genotypes included in the nine-valent, or nonavalent, HPV vaccine, which also protects against HPV-52.
Researchers said this indicates that more than half of the high-risk infections detected in the study communities could be prevented with broader vaccine coverage.
“We think that the nonavalent vaccine might be beneficial for the Philippines,” de Paz-Silava said, noting that elimination strategies must reflect current local epidemiology.
The study also highlighted low vaccination and screening rates. Less than 2 percent of women surveyed had been vaccinated against HPV, and screening uptake remained low, particularly in rural areas.
Experts at the summit acknowledged the government’s efforts under the National Immunization Program, which currently provides a four-valent HPV vaccine to public school girls aged 9 to 14.
The nonavalent HPV vaccine is available in the country but must undergo evaluation by the DOST’s Health Technology Assessment Council before it can be included in the Philippine National Formulary and considered for the National Immunization Program.
With the study funded by DOST, experts expressed optimism that the new local evidence would support the case for expanding vaccine coverage to better protect Filipino women from cervical cancer.
