In early October, the World Health Organization (WHO) prequalified a fourth human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, Cecolin, for single-dose use. The shift from a 2-dose HPV vaccine regimen to an alternative, off-label 1-dose injection schedule, recommended by the WHO in 2022, will help address the global supply shortages that have historically left individuals from low- and middle-income countries unprotected, the organization said.

Of the approximately 660 000 cases of cervical cancer diagnosed annually, more than 95% are caused by HPV. The disease disproportionately affects those living in Africa, with 19 of the 20 hardest-hit countries located there.

"By adding another option for a one-dose HPV vaccination schedule, we have taken another step closer to consigning cervical cancer to history," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, MSc, said in a press release.

According to estimates from the WHO, the switch to a single-dose vaccine schedule resulted in an additional 6 million girls vaccinated against HPV globally in 2023. That year, 27% of girls aged 9 to 14 years received a single dose of HPV vaccine, compared with 20% in 2022. As of this September, 57 countries, up from 37 last year, had adopted the new vaccination plan.

The WHO also prequalified a fifth HPV vaccine, Walrinvax, on a 2-dose schedule this summer.