Over 350,000 girls in Madhes, 55,000 in Jhapa to be jabbed HPV vaccine

By Bijay Kumar Sah/Lilaraj Khadka,Dhalkebar, Birtamod,  Jan. 30: More than 300,000 adolescent girls in Madhes Province will be vaccinated against cervical cancer with the HPV vaccine. 

The Health Directorate of Madhes Province has announced that 369,124 girls will receive the HPV vaccine from February 4 to 18.

According to the Directorate’s vaccination officer, Laxmishwar Jha, the programme will cover six grader girls (aged 10) and those aged between 11 and 14 years, both in and out of school, across the eight districts of the province. 

A total of 293,913 school-going girls and 75,211 out-of-school girls will be vaccinated.

To facilitate the vaccination campaign, 3,671 vaccination centres have been designated, with the same number of healthcare workers assigned to administer the vaccine. 

Additionally, 7,342 volunteers and 1,274 supervisors will be mobilised.

Dhanusha has the highest number of adolescent girls receiving the vaccine, with 43,644 school-going and 12,638 out-of-school girls, totalling 56,282. 

Other districts include Parsa with 38,686 girls, Bara with 45,535, Rautahat with 49,269, Sarlahi with 51,724, Mahottari with 45,282, Siraha with 45,463 and Saptari with 36,701 girls.

Director of the Health Directorate, Madhes Province, Shrawan Kumar Nayak, stated that all necessary preparations for the HPV vaccination campaign have been completed. 

“Data was collected from local levels to determine the required workforce for the campaign. Experts have confirmed that the HPV vaccine is safe,” he said. 

The World Health Organisation has also certified its quality. There is no need to fear receiving the vaccine,” he added. 

 Nayak emphasised that all targeted girls should take the HPV vaccine to protect themselves from cervical cancer.

Meanwhile, a total of 54,999 adolescent girls in Jhapa district will receive the HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer.

Organising a press conference held at the Jhapa District Health Office on Tuesday, District Health Office Chief Ramesh Barakoti informed that a total of 54,999 adolescent girls, including all school-going students from Grades 6 to 10 and out-of-school girls aged between 10  and 14 years, will be vaccinated in Jhapa from February 4 to February 11. 

According to our Birtamod Correspondent Lilaraj Khadka, the campaign will be launched on World Cancer Day.

 A total of 781 healthcare workers and 1,515 health volunteers will be mobilised for the campaign.

The vaccine will be administered in all schools across Jhapa, with additional vaccination centres established for out-of-school girls, according to Barakoti.

District Public Health Officer Prakash Pathak said to facilitate the campaign, ward-level interactions and training programmes have been completed across all 15 local levels in Jhapa, and promotional activities are currently being intensified. 

The vaccination campaign will be conducted simultaneously in 575 schools and 40 additional vaccination centres.

The government has set a target to eliminate cervical cancer from the country by 2030, and the vaccination of adolescent girls is part of the first phase of this initiative. 

According to Pathak, at least four women in Nepal die from cervical cancer every day.