Arakan health officials’ HPV vaccine campaign tempered by pandemic concerns

By Myo Thiri Kyaw 21 Jan 2021

Myo Thiri Kyaw| DMG
21 January 2021, Sittwe

Arakan State’s Public Health Department says it will limit HPV vaccinations at relevant clinics to about 50 young girls a day to prevent crowding amid the coronavirus pandemic, as it undertakes a campaign to inoculate more than 33,300 girls in the state against cervical cancer.

Myanmar rolled out countrywide plans to vaccinate against cervical cancer in October and November 2020, but many girls in Arakan State have not yet been vaccinated because of poor regional transportation infrastructure and the pandemic.

The state’s Public Health Department will vaccinate girls in Arakan State’s 17 townships from January 18-29, said Dr. Soe Win Paing, assistant director of the department.

“Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women. The HPV [human papillomavirus] infection is accounting for 86% of the cancer cases. The vaccine can prevent HPV-related cancer. The vaccine is most efficacious if it is administered at a young age,” he said.

Daw Than Than Soe from Mrauk-U Township said the vaccination is being administered in batches so as to avoid causing crowding amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“My daughter was vaccinated against cervical cancer yesterday. The clinic immunises 10 girls a day,” she said.

The first dose of the two-part vaccine is being administered this month, with a second round scheduled for October and November, said the state Public Health Department.