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SINGAPORE: Human Papillomavirus or HPV-related illnesses such as cervical cancer and genital warts are estimated to cost over $83 million to treat over the next 25 years in Singapore.
This is according to two studies conducted by Singapore researchers.
The studies were presented at an international conference in Montreal earlier this month.
They also showed that more than 60,000 women in Singapore may suffer from diseases caused by HPV infection over the next 25 years.
Of these women, over half, or 31,572, may have genital warts.
Lead researcher of one of the studies, associate professor Jeffrey Low, from the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, National University Hospital, describes the economic burden as "quite significant."
The researchers say introducing a mass HPV vaccination programme for the young female population, together with existing pap smear screenings, would cut the number of deaths resulting from cervical cancer in Singapore by more than half.
They would also reduce the number of women with genital warts by more than 80 per cent in the next 100 years.
The researcher say the two-pronged strategy would be more cost effective that just Pap smear screening alone.
Senior consultant with the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at the Singapore General Hospital, associate professor Tay Sun Kuie, said the prevented cases of cervical cancer would lead to significant cost saving.
The study estimates that each case of cervical cancer diagnosed here will cost, on average, more than $10,000 to treat.
Cervical cancer is the sixth most common cancer and the second highest cause of death among female reproductive tract cancers in Singapore.
Two vaccines that protect against some common types of HPV strains have been available in Singapore for the past several years.
- CNA/jm
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