HPV vaccination campaign relaunched

Sep 06, 2017 News

– 36,000 girls to be immunized

More than 36,000 girls between the ages of nine and 16 years will be immunized with the HPV vaccine following the relaunch of another immunization campaign.
This announcement was made yesterday by health officials from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and World Health Organization (WHO), and the Ministry of Public Health, (MoPH).
During a press briefing, the officials noted that the team is aiming to distribute approximately 40,000 doses of the vaccine among young girls across the regions of Guyana.
PAHO/WHO Representative, Dr. William Adu-Krow, noted that the main purpose of the HPV vaccine is to prevent cervical cancer. The vaccine also protects against genital warts in both females and males.
Ministry of Public Health, Maternal & Child Health Officer, Dr. Ertinesa Hamilton, in her presentation on the countrywide HPV relaunch, said with the goal of reducing cervical cancer locally, they will be partnering with a number of stakeholders.
Hamilton said, “We will be working in conjunction with the Ministry of Education to immunize girls in school. We have already begun the partnership with our private pediatricians for mothers who do not want to take their child to have the vaccine at school… and for all girls that we cannot reach, especially those in remote areas and are out of school, to have outreach activities in the regions, in their villages so that we can get every girl within that age group immunized.”
Dr. William Adu-Krow reminded that while not new, the HPV vaccine has been administered in several countries. He described it as the best chance of preventing cervical cancer.
Dr. Adu- Krow said that according to PAHO/WHO and Public Health data reviews, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among Guyanese women. “In Guyana, during the period 2003 – 2012, Guyana recorded 6,518 new cases of cancers for an overall cumulative incidence rate of 867.7 per 100,000 populations. Of the 3,956 sixty percent were females and 2,561 thirty nine percent were males, giving a female to male ratio of 1.54:1.”
The PAHO/WHO representative revealed that Indo-Guyanese were found to have the largest proportion of cases at forty seven percent, followed by Afro-Guyanese at thirty percent, and eleven percent among mixed races.
It was noted that male cases outnumbered female cases, at 52 percent and 48 percent respectively.
In relation to stigmas and myths about the HPV vaccine, Dr. Ertinesa Hamilton shared that the team will utilise a communication campaign to get stakeholders on board.
“We recognised that a lot that came out of that (the myths) had to do with not having enough information. And that’s why the focus this time around is having a communication campaign where we have enough information out to the general public,” Dr. Hamilton said.

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