With the exception of Dhaka, seven divisions will start vaccinating young girls against the human papillomavirus (HPV) on Thursday in an effort to prevent cervical cancer.
Dr. Mohammad Shahriar Sajjad, Deputy Director of Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), stated during a workshop marking the HPV Immunisation Campaign Programme at the National Institute of Mass Communication (NIMC) in the capital today that the campaign will run for four weeks under the government’s initiative with assistance from the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
According to Shahriar Sajad, the campaign in the seven divisions will start on October 24 and run for eighteen days, taking into account the Dhaka division’s experience. “Our aim is to provide this vaccination to 62,12,532 girls in seven divisions.”
The session was opened by Md. Nazrul Islam, the Information and Broadcasting Secretary (Routine Duty), with UNICEF Representative Bridget Job Johnson in attendance. Sufi Zakir Hossain, Director General (Current Charge) of NIMC, presided over the session.
The EPI program’s DPM While NIMC Director Md. Nazrul Islam emphasised several facets of the mass media’s role in this campaign, Rajib Sarkar went into further detail regarding the campaign during the session.
According to Dr. Rajib Sarkar, cervical cancer is known as a silent killer because it takes 15 to 20 years for symptoms to appear after infection.
He said that adding HPV vaccine can prevent this cancer when patients are diagnosed nearly at the end of the disease and it seems tough to recover.
In the Dhaka division, over 15 lakh young girls had a single dose of the HPV vaccine earlier in 2023, and no negative side effects were observed.
As stated by the Directorate General of Health Services, the vaccination campaign will last for eighteen days.
The program will be held in EPI permanent centres and educational institutions for the first ten days. Students in grades 5 through 9 will receive vaccinations in schools; if they are unable to do so, they should get vaccinated at the centre.
Additionally, girls between the ages of 10 and 14 who do not attend school can also get vaccinations at the centres.
Girls between the ages of 10 and 14 who do not have access to educational institutions can get the vaccine over the course of the following eight days through both temporary (different unions, ward vaccination centres) and permanent (District hospital, Upazila Health Complex) methods. Nonetheless, students in grades 5 through 9 who were absent from school can also receive immunisations here.
Cervical cancer, the second most prevalent cancer among women and the fourth most common worldwide, is the primary cause of cancer in women, according to medical professionals.
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