PRESS CONFERENCE

Ending the Stigma Against HPV Vaccine in Japan

Riko Muranaka, Medical doctor and journalist
Lecturer, Graduate School of Kyoto University School of Medicine

11:00-12:00 Wednesday, March 8, 2023
(The speech and Q & A will be in English.)

In 2010 Japan began offering a vaccine to protect against cervical cancer resulting from the human papillomavirus (HPV) to girls aged 13 to 16. In 2014 the government added the vaccine to the national immunization program and the vaccination rate eventually rose to about 80%. But amid what critics say were unfounded reports of side effects, the government stopped recommending the HPV vaccine and vaccination rates plummeted to less than 1%. Today, about 3,000 Japanese women die of cervical cancer in Japan every year – needlessly, say the critics. 

Antivaccine campaigners sued the Japanese government in 2017. The WHO weighed in, saying that policy decisions based on weak evidence resulted in real harm. After years of controversy, the Japanese government once again started recommending the HPV vaccine in April 2022. However, this decision may be too late for some. A significant number of girls who missed the vaccine during the years when the program was suspended had abnormal pap smear test results at age of 20, according to a January 2022 study published in Lancet magazine. Studies suggest the vaccination gap could lead to thousands of preventable cervical cancer deaths. 

Riko Muranaka is a medical doctor, journalist and winner of 2017 John Maddox Prize. A lecturer at the Kyoto University School of Medicine she has written extensively about the HPV vaccine. She was sued by the antivaccine campaigners in 2017. She says that misinformation about the vaccine needlessly destroyed confidence among the Japanese public. The lessons are far reaching in an era when conspiracy theories and misinformation about public vaccination programs are on the rise worldwide. 

How to attend
Please register at front@fccj.or.jp with your name, the name of your media outlet, and FCCJ membership number. Due to space restrictions attendance will be limited. Doors open 15 minutes before the event. Please sign in, giving your name and contact details at the reception, and have your temperature taken before proceeding. 

How to watch online: https://www.youtube.com/c/FCCJchannel/live 
Livestreaming of the press events will be available and video of this event will be uploaded to our FCCJ YouTube channel. 

How to ask questions: https://forms.gle/KM7W6h9RvAtSJoBf6 
Members watching the event online can submit questions for the speakers in advance using this submission form.

TV crew: Please make a reservation at front@fccj.or.jp. Doors open for TV crews only at 30 minutes before the event. 


Professional Activities Committee