HPV testRO

The HPV vaccine · adults

The HPV vaccine is free up to 26. From 27 to 45, women pay half

Since autumn 2025 the HPV vaccine in Romania has been free for girls and boys until their 27th birthday, and women aged 27 to 45 get 50% reimbursement. The vaccine does not replace the test: you still screen from 25.

What you are entitled to at your age

The vaccine is for

At 30, a woman gets the HPV vaccine 50% reimbursed until her 46th birthday (three doses).

How to get it, step by step

  1. Ask your family doctor, or any doctor contracted with the Insurance House, for the prescription. You must be insured.
  2. Buy the vaccine at a pharmacy on the free or reimbursed prescription.
  3. Go back to the practice for the injection and to book the next doses.

The number of doses depends on your age at the first dose. From 11 to 14 there are two doses, the second 6–13 months after the first. From 15 there are three doses, at 0, 2 and 6 months. Someone who starts at 26 (or, for women, at 45) can be prescribed all three doses even if the later ones fall after the age limit. No booster dose has been shown to be needed. The vaccine is not given in pregnancy.

After 26, the reimbursement protocol names only women; it provides no reimbursement for men aged 27 and over.

What happened where girls were vaccinated early

  1. Unvaccinated100
  2. Vaccinated, at any age37
  3. Vaccinated before 1712
Cervical cancer rate, with unvaccinated women set at 100. Sweden, 1,672,983 girls and women followed to age 31; adjusted rate ratios 0.37 and 0.12. Lei and colleagues, 2020.

In Sweden, researchers followed 1,672,983 girls and women aged 10 to 30 from 2006 to 2017. Those vaccinated before 17 had a cervical cancer rate about one eighth of the unvaccinated (incidence rate ratio 0.12). Across all vaccinated women, whatever their age, the rate was about 63% lower (Lei and colleagues, New England Journal of Medicine, 2020).

In Scotland, among women born between 1988 and 1996, no cervical cancer was recorded in those vaccinated at 12 or 13, whatever the number of doses (Palmer and colleagues, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2024).

The gap between women vaccinated before 17 and all vaccinated women together has a simple explanation: the vaccine prevents infection, it does not cure it. The earlier it comes relative to the start of sexual life, the more it protects. That does not make it useless at 30 or 40, but the benefit is smaller and varies from person to person; it is worth discussing with a doctor.

Frequently asked questions

Up to what age is the HPV vaccine free in Romania?

Until the 27th birthday, for girls and boys. Someone who starts at 26 is prescribed all three doses.

How much does the HPV vaccine cost after 27?

Women aged 27 to 45 get it 50% reimbursed. For men over 26 the protocol provides no reimbursement.

How many doses of HPV vaccine do I need?

Two if the first dose comes between 11 and 14. Three if you start at 15 or later, at 0, 2 and 6 months.

Is the vaccine worth it if I have already had HPV?

It can protect against the types you have not had, but it does not cure an existing infection. The benefit is smaller than vaccination before sexual life starts; discuss it with a doctor.

If I am vaccinated, do I still have the HPV test?

Yes. The screening method makes no exception for vaccinated women.

Sources and method

Checked on 27 September 2026. Next check due by 31 March 2027. Responsible for publication: Marius Comper.

This page explains the programme's rules and where to get tested. It does not diagnose and does not replace a consultation.

The programme rules (ages, intervals, the steps after a result) come from the 2024 method. The payment routes come from the National Health Insurance House rules as of January 2026: we looked for the HPV test in the list of tests paid to laboratories and did not find it, unlike cytology; we found it in the outpatient gynaecology packages. There is no public national list of practices contracted for this package, so the steps say what to ask.

The CLARA centres are the project's partner hospitals. For the North-East, North-West, Centre, South-Muntenia and West, the region is confirmed by the hospital or local press; for South-West Oltenia (Craiova), South-East (Constanța) and Bucharest-Ilfov (the “Trestioreanu” Oncology Institute) we matched the partner to the region it is in. Counties are grouped by Romania's development regions.

The calculation starts from your year of birth, so your age may be off by a year. “Skipped” tests are the moments the programme would have called you, counted from 25 or from your last test; the HPV-based method only began in 2024, so they show what today's rules would have scheduled, not a failing of yours.

The comparison with Sweden uses Eurostat's age-standardised rate, not the number of deaths, because the populations differ.

Further reading

Sorana Stănescu writes “Foaia de observație”, a Romanian-language newsletter on how the Romanian health system works in practice. Two of her pieces on screening: “How to check your cancer risk” (January 2025) and “Cancer screening in Romania, a puzzle” (June 2025).

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