City district holds lottery for anti-cancer drug

Residents of a district in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, have been told they must enter a lottery if they want to receive a popular vaccine that can prevent cervical cancer, due to high demand.

Xiaoshan district's center for disease control and prevention said women must register online using their real names if they want to enter the lottery for vaccination with Gardasil 9, a nine-way HPV vaccine that was approved for use on the mainland by China's top regulator in April.

At the first draw, held in the district's public health center on Sept 17, 186 of the 885 women who applied were selected to receive vaccinations. The lottery was conducted under notarial supervision, according to Xiaoshan CDC.