HPV vaccines to be administered to children of four districts this week

Kathmandu, March 22: The government is set to launch a 'Human Papillomavirus' (HPV) vaccination campaign against cervical cancer in four districts of the country this week.

Head of the Child Health and Immunisation Branch of the Department of Health Services, Dr Abhiyan Gautam, said that the vaccination campaign will be conducted in Dolpa, Humla, Jumla and Manang, where schools were closed due to snowfall in February when the vaccination campaign was conducted across the country.

HPV vaccines were administered to 6th-grade students and 10-year-old girls outside school throughout the country from February 8 to 27, except in those four districts.

Similarly, children from grades 7 to 10 and out-of-school girls aged 11 to 14 were also vaccinated. Dr Gautam, the head of the vaccination branch, stated that during the campaign, 323,000 girls in 73 districts were given the HPV vaccine.

Dr Gautam said instructions have been given and health workers trained in those districts to make the necessary preparations for the vaccination campaign.

He stated that the main cause of increased risk of cervical cancer is infection from the human papillomavirus, which is why the government has launched a vaccination campaign against it.(RSS)