A national vaccination programme on Merck Sharp & Dohme's (MSD's) cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil has been launched in Bhutan, through a collaboration with the Royal Government of Bhutan, MSD and the Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation (ACCF) as a preventive measure against Human Papillomavirus Quadrivalent (Types 6, 11, 16 and 18) for appropriate girls and young women in the country.

As part of the initiative, the girls and young women between the ages of 12 and 18 will be offered vaccination with Gardazil, in an effort to reduce the burden of cervical cancer, which affects more women in Bhutan than any other cancer.

Merck is providing Gardasil [Human Papillomavirus Quadrivalent (Types 6, 11, 16 and 18) Recombinant Vaccine], to the programme partners at no cost in the first year and for the remaining five years will provide it at an access price at which Merck will not profit. In addition, Merck is providing additional support for implementation of the program. The Royal Government of Bhutan is committed to ensuring sustainability of this programme beyond the six year partnership with Merck and ACCF.

The six-year programme led by Her Majesty the Royal Grandmother Ashi Kesang Choeden Wangchuck and the Bhutan Ministry of Health has started providing vaccination with Gardasil. Bhutan is the first low income country in the world to implement a national vaccination programme with an HPV cancer vaccine.

"Vaccination programmes such as the one we launched play an important role in helping to protect the women of our country," said Dr Ugen Dophu, director, Department of Public Health, Ministry of Health, Bhutan. "It has long been a priority of ours to make health programs like this available to women of our country. We’re pleased to have the support of Merck and the ACCF on such an important initiative."

"Cervical cancer represents a significant public health problem for Bhutan and the impact on affected women, their families and their communities is great. Merck is committed to helping improve access to Gardasil in Bhutan and in other resource-limited countries around the world where the prevalence of cervical cancer is high," said Dr Mark Feinberg, vice president, Medical Affairs and Policy, Merck Vaccines. "Working in partnership with committed governments and other public and private sector partners is critical to the success of any programme developed to enable women in low income countries to benefit from vaccination against cervical cancer."

ACCF, a charity whose mission is to minimize the incidence and burden of cervical cancer and related women’s health issues on women. is supporting the national vaccination programme by providing financial support to the Government of Bhutan to secure doses of Gardasil at the access price after the first year of the programme is complete.

Gardasil is approved in the US for use in girls and young women nine through 26 years of age for the prevention of cervical, vulvar and vaginal cancers caused by HPV types 16 and 18; genital warts caused by HPV types 6 and 11; and precancerous or dysplastic lesions caused by HPV types 6, 11, 16 and 18. Gardasil is also approved in the US for use in boys and men ages 9 through 26 years of age for the prevention of genital warts (condylomata acuminata) caused by HPV types 6 and 11. HPV types 16 and 18 account for approximately 75 per cent of cervical cancer cases. Gardasil [Human Papillomavirus Quadrivalent (Types 6, 11, 16 and 18) Vaccine, Recombinant] is contraindicated in individuals with hypersensitivity, including severe allergic reactions to yeast, or after a previous dose of Gardasil.