The findings support the case for sex-neutral vaccination programs.
Twenty years after the approval of the first HPV vaccines, studies continue to find new benefits.
Initiating the vaccine series at ages 9 to 10 also makes it easier to complete the multi-dose series before adolescence.
Clinics that more often initiated HPV vaccination at age 9 had lower unvaccination rates.
Overall, cervical cancer rates in women ages 20 to 31 fell 27% from 2000-2005 (before the vaccine was approved) to 2016-2021, after the HPV vaccine became available.
The vaccine has reduced cervical cancer by nearly 90% in women vaccinated as teens and has been studied in more than 50 randomized controlled trials.
Of all women, 20% preferred home-based self-sampling, while 61% preferred clinic-based testing, and 19% were unsure.
An observational study from China finds that menstrual blood can be used to screen for human papillomavirus which causes 90% of all cervical cancer.
Offering self-collection to all women can improve health equity and speed the global elimination of cervical cancer, the authors say.
The incidence of cervical lesions was 50% lower in unvaccinated women when vaccination was widespread.
