Applications for CCF’s Cervical Cancer Vaccination Pilot Scheme to close next month

The following is issued on behalf of the Community Care Fund Secretariat:
 
     Applications for the Community Care Fund (CCF) Cervical Cancer Vaccination Pilot Scheme (Pilot Scheme) will close at 8pm on September 16 (Monday). The Family Planning Association of Hong Kong (FPAHK) today (August 16) appealed to eligible teenage girls to register for vaccination as early as possible.
 
      The FPAHK will provide eligible applicants with registration, vaccination and related services at the three Youth Health Care Centres in Wan Chai, Mong Kok and Kwai Fong. Eligible applicants may call these centres during office hours to book their first appointment, or register online through the Pilot Scheme website. Telephone numbers of the three Youth Health Care Centres are as below:
 

 
     At the first appointment, applicants must bring along documentary proof in person for processing the application and arrangements will be made for them to undergo clinical assessment prior to vaccination. Applicants under 18 years old must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian at their first appointment. Eligible applicants must receive the first dose of vaccine on or before September 30, 2019 and complete the remaining doses within the time period instructed by the doctor.
 
     Eligible beneficiaries of the Pilot Scheme include girls aged 9 to 18 who are receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance, female students aged 9 or above who are receiving a full grant under the School Textbook Assistance Scheme (STAS), girls aged 9 to 18 who are from households benefiting from the Working Family Allowance Scheme and female students aged 9 or above who are receiving a half grant under the STAS. Except for female students receiving a half grant under the STAS who will be required to pay $100 for each dose of vaccine, all eligible beneficiaries will receive a free cervical cancer vaccination.
 
      The Pilot Scheme was launched in October 2016 with funding from CCF for a duration of three years to provide cervical cancer vaccination for girls from eligible low-income families. The FPAHK is the implementing agent of the Pilot Scheme. New applications for the Pilot Scheme were originally scheduled to close in late March 2019. The Commission on Poverty later approved to extend the closing date for new applications under the Pilot Scheme for six months to late September 2019. As at the end of June 2019, around 26 000 girls have benefited from the Pilot Scheme.
   
      The publicity leaflet of the Pilot Scheme is available at the Youth Health Care Centres, clinics and Women's Clubs of the FPAHK; Social Security Field Units of the Social Welfare Department; clinics and health centres under the Department of Health; and the Working Family Allowance Office of the Working Family and Student Financial Assistance Agency. Members of the public may visit CCF's website and the FPAHK website for eligibility criteria, application procedures and other details of the Pilot Scheme. For enquiries, please call the Pilot Scheme hotline at 2919 7878 or email ccfvaccine@famplan.org.hk.
 
      As well, following the aforesaid Pilot Scheme, eligible female primary school students will be provided with human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccinations starting from the 2019/20 school year under the Hong Kong Childhood Immunisation Programme of the Department of Health to prevent cervical cancer. The first dose will be given by the School Immunisation Teams of the Department of Health to Primary Five female students at their schools by phase after the start of school term in September 2019, and a second dose will be given to the girls when they reach Primary Six in the following school year. For enquiries regarding the HPV vaccination, please contact the Department of Health at 2615 8577.