Vaccine battle against cancer-causing HPV thwarted by cost, stigma in Venezuela

By Agence France-Presse

May 10, 2023 9:21 am

CARACAS, Venezuela: Venezuelan Glorimar Montano saved up for months to pay the $120 for a single dose of the vaccine that protects against the cancer-causing HPV virus — a shot that is free and compulsory in most other countries.

A ribbon made of old CDs and a pink sign reading Cancer is curable if detected early are seen in a patient waiting room at the Cancer Prevention Clinic of the Anticancer Society of Venezuela in Caracas on 24 March 2023. Venezuela has been promising for years to include the vaccine in its immunization schedule and to guarantee it free of charge, but it remains one of the few countries in Latin America that does not offer it despite the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), which calls for immunization starting at age 9. Photo by Yuri CORTEZ / AFP

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