Compensation programs after withdrawal of the recommendation for HPV vaccine in Japan

HPV vaccinations were recommended with the backing of a Japanese government subsidy program in 2010, and were included in the National Immunization Program in April 2013. However, the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare withdrew the recommendation for the HPV vaccination in June 2013. We investigated HPV vaccine injury compensation programs for both the national and local governments. Approximately 3.38 million girls were vaccinated, and 2,584 complained of health problems. The majority of these received the vaccine shot as a non-routine vaccination. In total, 98 people developed health problems and applied for assistance from 2011 to 2014, but no cases have been processed since October 2014. Several local governments are providing their own compensation program for cases of vaccine adverse reactions, but the number is extremely low (16 of 1,741 municipalities and 1 of 47 prefectures). The local governments that are providing compensation are largely those where HPV vaccine victim support groups are prominent. The confusion regarding the national program for HPV vaccine injury was caused by the discrepancy between the compensation programs for those vaccinated under the immunization law and for those who received voluntary vaccinations. The establishment of a new compensation program might be key to finding a lasting resolution.