A prominent Chinese hospital's request for blood from 100 'healthy female virgins' for research purposes has drawn public flak, with many condemning it as demeaning to women, a report said today.
Peking University Cancer Hospital said it needed the blood for conducting studies of possible antibodies on human papilloma virus (HPV), which is usually transmitted through sexual contact, the state-run China Daily reported.
The hospital requested 100 healthy female virgin college students from 18 to 24 years old to be blood donors for the studies.
A serum antibody to HPV can come only from women who have never been infected, medical experts say. Unprotected sex is the most common risk factor of HPV infections.
However, Chinese netizens denounced the request as promoting virginity worship, which they said is demeaning to women.
"Male virgins are not needed, just females, how is this science?" wrote one user of Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of microblogging site Twitter.
The hospital's spokeswoman Guan Jiuping defended the request, saying the blood of virgins is a medically necessity.
"It's in line with international practice to collect female virgins' blood samples, which serve as negative control substances in HPV research, given that the risk of contracting HPV is low among women who have never had sex," Guan said.
"Too much attention to sensitive words like 'virgin' and 'sex' is not necessary in this context," she said.
Guan, however, said that the hospital will improve its public communication skills for such unusual requests in the future.
In China, 84 per cent of cervical cancer patients had HPV infections of different kinds and about 15 per cent of Chinese females have reported HPV infections, said Qiao Youlin, a cancer expert and a professor of oncology research at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing.
There are many types of HPV, and only a few increase the risk of developing cervical cancer, he said. Other risk factors of cervical cancer include poor diet, smoking and an impaired immune system.
A programme was launched in China in 2009 to give free cervical cancer screening to rural women to aid in early detection. Imported vaccines protecting women from HPV infection are in the process of getting approval to enter the Chinese mainland market.
