hello大家好！和乙肝病毒引发的疾病一样，宫颈癌也堪称世界上最致命的疫苗可预防疾病。大多数已存在有效儿童疫苗、且疫苗普遍可获得的疾病已不再威胁公众健康。但在2020年，也就是几乎可以完全预防发病的疫苗问世14年后，宫颈癌仍导致34.2万名女性死亡。如果疫苗的接种率上升，这种癌症可以被消除殆尽。而对于达成接种率目标，我们有了新的理由燃起希望。
Alongside ailments resulting from hepatitis B, cervical cancer has a strong claim to be the world’s deadliest vaccine-preventable disease. 和乙肝病毒引发的疾病一样，宫颈癌也堪称世界上最致命的疫苗可预防疾病。
Most illnesses for which effective vaccines for children are widely available no longer threaten public health. 大多数已存在有效儿童疫苗、且疫苗普遍可获得的疾病已不再威胁公众健康。
But in 2020, 14 years after the advent of a jab that prevents almost all cases, cervical cancer still killed 342,000 women. 但在2020年，也就是几乎可以完全预防发病的疫苗问世14年后，宫颈癌仍导致34.2万名女性死亡。
If take-up of the vaccine rose—a goal about which there are new grounds for hope—this cancer could be nearly eliminated. 如果疫苗的接种率上升，这种癌症可以被消除殆尽。而对于达成接种率目标，我们有了新的理由燃起希望。
Fully 95% of cervical-cancer cases are caused by human papillomavirus (hpv), a group of sexually transmitted viruses. 足有95%的宫颈癌病例是由人类乳头瘤病毒（HPV）引起的，这是一组性传播病毒。
So common is hpv that nearly every sexually active person contracts a strain. HPV非常普遍，几乎每个性活跃的人都会感染某种毒株。
Most never know, because the body flushes it out within two years. In some cases, however, the virus lingers, forming lesions on women’s cervixes that can become cancerous. 大多数人感染过却不自知，因为身体会在两年内将它排出体外。然而，在某些情况下，病毒会留存下来，并在女性宫颈上形成可能致癌变的病灶。
This deadly condition is the second most common cancer among women aged 15-44. In rich countries, five-year survival rates are around 70%. 这种致命的病变是15岁至44岁女性中第二常见的癌症。在富裕国家，五年生存率约为70%。
In the poorest ones, which account for 90% of deaths from cervical cancer, less than one in five women with the disease are thought to survive. 宫颈癌死亡人数有90%在最贫穷的地区，那里能活下来的女性患者据信不到五分之一。
The hpv jab, if given before people become sexually active, fully protects against hpv. 如果在性活跃之前接种HPV疫苗，可以完全预防HPV。
But take-up has been slow. In the rich world, the share of people vaccinated by age 15 ranges from zero in Japan, which only resumed recommending the jab in 2022, to 81% in Britain. 但接种进展缓慢。在发达国家，15岁以下人群的疫苗接种率从日本的零（直到2022年才重新推荐接种）到英国的81%不等。
Many poorer countries have never begun vaccination drives. Worldwide, just 12% of eligible girls got the jab in 2021, down from 14% in 2019. 许多较贫穷的国家从未开始推广接种HPV疫苗。在全球范围内，2021年只有12%适合接种的女孩完成了接种，低于2019年的14%。
The nature of hpv can hinder vaccination efforts. Many countries lack systems to distribute vaccines at ages nine to 15, and some parents are squeamish about vaccinating young girls against a sexually transmitted virus. HPV的特性会阻碍推广疫苗的努力。许多国家缺少为9至15岁儿童接种疫苗的制度，一些父母对给年轻女孩接种抗性传播病毒的疫苗感到别扭。
Moreover, the jab’s benefits are not felt until the age when cervical cancer is diagnosed, typically 15-35 years later. 而且，打疫苗的好处要到宫颈癌可以被诊断出来的年龄才能感受到——通常是在15年至35年后。
However, two other roadblocks are now being cleared. In December the World Health Organisation (who) said that a single dose of the hpv jab provided full protection. 不过，另外两大障碍正在被清除。去年12月，世界卫生组织（WHO）表示，注射一剂HPV疫苗就能提供全面保护。
This will vastly expedite vaccination efforts. In addition, firms in both China and India are now producing their countries’ first domestic hpv jabs. 这将大大加快疫苗接种。此外，中国和印度的公司正在生产它们的第一批国产HPV疫苗。
The Serum Institute of India plans to make 200m doses in two years at prices well below the current market rate. Its output should supply India’s first national vaccination effort. 印度血清研究所（Serum Institute of India）计划在两年内生产2亿剂疫苗，价格远低于目前的市场价。它的产出应该能支持印度第一次全国性疫苗接种行动。
The who has set a goal for the hpv vaccination rate to reach 90% by 2030, entailing a sustained increase of nine percentage points per year. 世卫组织已经设定了到2030年HPV疫苗接种覆盖率达90%的目标，这意味着要保持每年增长9个百分点。
Based on a statistical model built by scholars at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, we estimate that among girls eligible for vaccination by 2030, 根据伦敦卫生与热带医学学院（London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine）的学者建立的统计模型，我们估计如果实现这一目标，
this path would reduce the number who wind up dying of cervical cancer by 2.65m, when compared with the status quo. 到2030年适合接种的女孩中最终死于宫颈癌的人数相比维持现状将减少265万。
Maintaining the 90% rate beyond 2030 would prevent another 650,000 deaths among girls vaccinated in each subsequent year, before accounting for population growth. 若在2030年以后继续维持90%的接种覆盖率，接种疫苗的女孩中每年又可避免65万人死亡（不考虑人口增长）。
With cheap, single-dose vaccines on the horizon, such numbers may no longer be the stuff of fantasy. 随着便宜的单剂疫苗即将问世，这样的数字可能不再是幻想。
