Australian heavyweights in cancer screening are urging Japanese health authorities to rapidly restore public confidence in the HPV vaccine, warning that the lives of thousands of women are at risk.

Their modelling study estimates that the vaccine hesitancy crisis, in which thousands of teenage girls have abandoned the country’s HPV immunisation program, will cause an additional 24,000-27,000 cases of cervical cancer among girls born between 1994 and 2007.

Despite having a routine and free HPV vaccination program, coverage rates dwindled over the past seven years, after the local media reported unconfirmed instances of adverse events — later found to be unrelated to the vaccine — and the Japanese Government stopped proactively recommending it.

As a result, vaccine coverage in girls aged 12-16 rapidly dropped off from more than 70% to less than 1%.