Junta Health Ministry to provide HPV vaccine to school-age girls

By Admin 23 Aug 2023

DMG Newsroom
23 August 2023, Sittwe

Girls between the ages of 9 and 12 will be vaccinated against cervical cancer in August and September, and the female general public will be vaccinated beginning in October, according to the junta’s Ministry of Health.

A kickoff ceremony for the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination campaign was held at the Ministry of Health on August 22.

An official from Arakan State’s Department of Public Health (DPH) said the vaccine has not yet arrived in Arakan State and has not yet been administered, and the number of vaccinations that will be administered is unknown.

The Ministry of Health has said that by vaccinating young girls, the rate of infection with HPV, which causes cervical cancer, can be reduced by 83 percent.

In Mrauk-U Township, Arakan State, the cervical cancer vaccine will be administered depending on the availability of the drug, said Dr. Khin Maung Than, a doctor at the Mrauk-U People’s Hospital.

“Currently, the cervical cancer vaccine has not yet arrived. From the age of 9, we are going to give the cervical cancer vaccine to the students. The population will be injected depending on the availability of the cervical cancer vaccine,” he told DMG.

Health advocates point out that health knowledge and understanding about cervical cancer in Arakan State is still weak.

Daw Oo Tin Yi, a local woman from Mrauk-U, said the DPH needs to raise awareness about cervical cancer.

“I am happy that the Ministry of Health is giving the cervical cancer vaccine to students. But what we see around us is that some parents don’t believe even if they will get the cervical cancer vaccine, and they don’t ask their children to get the vaccine,” she said.

“Any adult woman can get this cervical cancer,” said Dr. Aung Sit Tun, a doctor at Ponnagyun People’s Hospital. “The most common group of cervical cancer is those who are married at a young age, those who have multiple marriages, and if their spouse has also had multiple marriages. Therefore, it is best to prevent cervical cancer by getting vaccinated from an early age.”