About four months ago, Chinese women expressed their happiness at the approval of a long-awaited vaccine which protects against the cancer-causing human papillomavirus, better known as HPV.

Their happiness, however, didn't last long. It turned to disappointment, if not anger, as they learned early this month that the vaccine was being phased out in the United States.

GlaxoSmithKline has confirmed that it will no longer supply the US market with Cervarix because of the declining demand, after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the vaccine Gardasil 9.