{
  "abstract": "Introduction Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination coverage in Japan is among the lowest worldwide (<1% in 2019). In April 2022, the Japanese government resumed proactive recommendations for routine HPV vaccination after an 8-year suspension and initiated a catch-up vaccination programme. This study aimed to assess the impact of this change in the vaccination policy on HPV vaccination rates in Japan.Methods We used data from the resident and vaccination registries of one municipality in Japan collected from January 2019 to June 2023. We estimated the cumulative vaccination rates for each female cohort born in the 2003–2011 fiscal years (FYs, 1 April–31 March). We also assessed the impact of the change in governmental policy by estimating the changes in the level and trend of first vaccination rates among girls eligible for routine vaccination using a segmented Poisson regression with an interrupted time series (ITS) design.Results We identified 13 376 girls eligible for routine HPV vaccination (born between FY2003 and FY2011) during the study period. The FY2006 birth cohort had the highest cumulative vaccination rates for the first, second and third doses in June 2023 (33.6%, 30.2% and 27.0%, respectively). The ITS analysis shows that the level change was 1.53 (95% CI 1.24 to 1.91), which means that the first vaccination rate increased by 53% in April 2022. The trend change was 0.97 (95% CI 0.95 to 1.00), indicating that the trend of the first HPV vaccination remained almost unchanged before and after April 2022.Conclusions The resumption of the proactive recommendation of HPV vaccination by the Japanese government promoted HPV vaccinations. However, the changes in HPV vaccination rates and trends remain insufficient when compared with the WHO’s target of achieving 90% full vaccination coverage among girls by age 15 years. Additional efforts are required to encourage and promote vaccination in the Japanese population.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Laboratory of Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Data Science, Center for Clinical Sciences, Japan Institute for Health Security, Tokyo, Japan"
      ],
      "name": "Mahiro Sazawa"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Laboratory of Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Data Science, Center for Clinical Sciences, Japan Institute for Health Security, Tokyo, Japan"
      ],
      "name": "Chieko Ishiguro"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Laboratory of Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Data Science, Center for Clinical Sciences, Japan Institute for Health Security, Tokyo, Japan"
      ],
      "name": "Wataru Mimura"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Kyushu University Faculty of Medicine Graduate School of Medical Sciences School of Medicine, Fukuoka, Japan"
      ],
      "name": "Megumi Maeda"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Kyushu University Faculty of Medicine Graduate School of Medical Sciences School of Medicine, Fukuoka, Japan"
      ],
      "name": "Fumiko Murata"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Kyushu University Faculty of Medicine Graduate School of Medical Sciences School of Medicine, Fukuoka, Japan"
      ],
      "name": "Haruhisa Fukuda"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Impact of the resumption of proactive recommendation of HPV vaccination on HPV vaccination rates in Japan: an interrupted time series analysis based on the VENUS study",
  "uid": "917e6b3f-a785-5371-ba91-4b24270ce5c2"
}