The national HPV vaccination campaign, currently being undertaken with the help of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, is expected to yield a significant reduction in cervical cancer cases, according to Minister within the Ministry of Public Health Dr. Karen Cummings, who maintains that the vaccines are safe.
Concerns have been raised about the funding behind the initiative and the safety of the vaccine, which is being administered to young girls countrywide. However, although the campaign began this year, the administration of the vaccine was first piloted under the former PPP/C administration, from 2012 to 2014, during which time some 21,600 vaccines were administered to girls between the ages of 11 and 13 in regions 3, 4, 5 and 6.
However, Dr. Cummings revealed that while that programme saw very high coverage for the administration of the first dose of the vaccine, there were high drop-out rates for the two subsequent doses based on “multiple challenges from the media as well as parents.”
