China is expected to introduce the first vaccine to prevent cervical cancer next year to help Chinese women battle the highly fatal disease.

If everything goes well, the one-shot vaccine will enter the Chinese market next year, Meng Xiangzhu, program director of the China Cancer Research Foundation said Wednesday at a free consultation event for cervical caner to mark International Women's Day.

The vaccine to prevent the most common forms of cervical cancer has proved effective in a two-year test of more than 10,000 girls and women in the United States. It is now waiting to win Food and Drug Administration approval for the vaccine and is expected to be put on the market as soon as late 2006, according to Meng.

The foundation is working with fellow research institutes to find the most common strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV) which can trigger cervical cancer in Chinese women, and preparing for the vaccine to enter China, Meng said.

Worldwide, cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers among women. It kills nearly 300,000 a year. About 600 women die of cervical cancer each day, 80 percent of whom come from developing countries.

Doctors at the event said women who develop cervical cancer in China are becoming younger.

The vaccine is most efficient when provided before women become sexually active.

Source: Xinhua