On December 13, Indonesian state-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma announced that it had signed a technology transfer agreement with U.S.-based Merck & Co. to produce Merck's human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in Indonesia. Currently, the HPV vaccine is being used in vaccination programs in certain areas of Indonesia, and its coverage will expand nationwide by 2023. This year, the Indonesian Ministry of Health incorporated HPV vaccination into its mandatory basic immunization program.
According to World Health Organization data, cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women globally, with an estimated 604,000 new cases and 342,000 deaths in 2020.