Experts call on adults to take vaccines against preventable diseases

BEIJING -- Chinese medical experts called on adults, particularly women as well as middle-aged and senior people, to get themselves immunized against vaccine-preventable diseases.

"Looking back on history, vaccines have been playing an indispensable role in fighting diseases," said Zeng Guang, chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

There are corresponding immunization plans for people of every age group, Zeng noted, calling for enhanced public awareness of adult immunization.

A survey on public awareness of immunization jointly released Saturday by Chinese tech giant Tencent and multinational pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline showed that merely 22 percent of Chinese people polled knew that women need to take vaccines.

"The figure reminds us the general public's lack of immunization knowledge," said Sui Long, a gynecologist with the Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University in Shanghai.

"Apart from infectious diseases, vaccines play an important role in preventing cancers," Sui said. For example, human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines are effective in preventing HPV-caused cervical cancers, Sui added.

Jiang Wencheng, a physician with Shanghai Dermatology Hospital, said middle-aged and senior people are at higher risk of shingles. With limited therapies available, vaccination is the most effective way to contain the viral disease, Jiang said.

Xu Jie, a physician for infectious diseases, suggested that high-risk grown-ups for hepatitis B should also be included in a regular immunization program.

Saturday marks China's National Immunization Day, an annual public health event to raise public awareness of immunization against vaccine-preventable diseases.