Introduced in 2010, widely available only since April 2013. Fully financed by national health authorities. In June 2013, however, Japan's Vaccine Adverse Reactions Review Committee (VARRC) suspended recommendation of the vaccine due to fears of adverse events. This directive has been criticized by researchers at the University of Tokyo as a failure of governance since the decision was taken without presentation of adequate scientific evidence. At the time, Ministry spokespeople emphasized that "The decision does not mean that the vaccine itself is problematic from the viewpoint of safety," but that they wanted time to conduct analyses on possible adverse effects, "to offer information that can make the people feel more at ease." However, the suspension of the Ministry's endorsement was still in place as of February 2019, by which time the HPV vaccination rate among younger women fell from approximately 70% in 2013 to 1% or less. Over an overlapping time period (2009-2019), the age-adjusted mortality rate from cervical cancer increased by 9.6%.