Request for blood of female virgins misread 
 
 A hospital's request for blood from healthy female virgins has attracted public attention while raising awareness of the human papillomavirus, the primary cause of cervical cancer. 
 
 The notice, which requests the blood for HPV studies, appeared on online bulletin board systems at Peking University and Beijing Normal University last week. 
 
 Peking University Cancer Hospital is conducting studies of possible antibodies. The hospital said it would need 100 healthy female virgin college students from 18 to 24 years old as blood donors for the studies. 
 
 Some netizens denounced the request as promoting virginity worship, which they said is demeaning to women. 
 
 But hospital spokeswoman Guan Jiuping defended the request, saying the blood of virgins is medically necessary for the studies. 
 
 "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. 
 
 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. 
 
 "Too much attention to sensitive words like 'virgin' and 'sex' is not necessary in this context," Guan said. 
 
 But Guan said the hospital will improve its public communication skills for such unusual requests in the future. 
 
 Asked how the hospital will tell whether a prospective donor is really a virgin, Guan said hospital officials will take the donors' word for it. 
 
 Qiao Youlin, a cancer expert and a professor of oncology research at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing, said many women get infected with HPV but the disease usually disappears without treatment. 
 
 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. 
 
 Nationwide, 84 percent of cervical cancer patients had HPV infections of different kinds and about 15 percent of Chinese females have reported HPV infections, he said, citing previous research. 
 
 Statistics from the National Health and Family Planning Commission showed that cervical cancer was second only to breast cancer as the most common form of cancer among women. 
 
 Each year, more than 75,000 new cases occurred on the mainland, it said. 
 
 Lang Jinghe, a gynecologist at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital in Beijing, said the number of young women with cervical cancer has sharply increased over recent years. 
 
 But early diagnosis and treatment help control the disease, she added. 
 
 To aid in early detection, the central government launched a program in 2009 to give free cervical cancer screening to rural women. 
 
 Imported vaccines protecting women from HPV infection are in the process of getting approval to enter the Chinese mainland market. 

 Chinese hospital seeks virgins' blood 
 
 (AFP) – Sep 16, 2013 
 
 BEIJING — A Chinese hospital's request for blood from healthy female virgins for use in medical research has been condemned as insulting to women, state-run media reported Monday. 
 
 The Peking University Cancer Hospital said it needed the blood of 100 female virgins aged from 18 to 24 years old for studies on the human papilloma virus (HPV), which is usually transmitted through sexual contact, the China Daily reported. 
 
 Some internet users condemned the request as promoting virginity worship and demeaning to women. 
 
 "Male virgins are not needed, just females, how is this science?" wrote one user of Sina Weibo, a social media service similar to Twitter and a lively forum for popular opinion. 
 
 The hospital defended the call for donors, saying that virgins' blood was less likely to be infected with HPV. 
 
 "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," the China Daily quoted spokeswoman Guan Jiuping as saying. 
 
 Hospital officials would take the donors' word for their sexual status, she added. 
 
 Some internet users defended the hospital, with one saying on Sina Weibo: "People who curse are basically those who haven't understood the whole story. Learn some science and rationality, rather than criticising others." 
 
 Female virginity was traditionally seen as a prerequisite for marriage in China, and today many Chinese men still prefer their wives to be virgins. 
 
 The continued importance attributed to virginity, combined with relaxed sexual mores in recent decades, has led to growth in the market for artificial hymens and restorative surgery which allows women to appear to be virgins. 
 
 But some commentators in China have said the pressure placed on women to remain virgins is demeaning and evidence of a double standard. 
 
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– A Chinese cancer hospital has sparked anger with a call for blood donations—specifically from 100 female virgins ages 18 to 24. The Peking University Cancer Hospital says it's planning a study on HPV and that virgins are less likely to have the virus. "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," a hospital spokesperson tells China Daily. But on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter equivalent, users disagreed. "Male virgins are not needed, just females, how is this science?" asks one. Observers have attacked China's emphasis on female virginity: AFP notes that men in the country often want brides to be virgins in accordance with tradition, and surgery to "restore" virginity is increasingly popular. The spokesperson says the hospital will try to improve its communication skills in the future, should it need to make such an odd request again. As for how the donors' virgin status will be confirmed by the hospital? Honor system. (In Sumatra, the education chief recently called for mandatory virginity tests for students.)