According to data from the Ministry of Health, an average of four women die from cervical cancer every day in Nepal.
What you should know
The government is set to launch a nationwide human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination program against cervical cancer from the last week of January. The HPV vaccination program is set to be implemented as per the regular national vaccination schedule.
In an interaction program organized here today, it was informed that the vaccination program is being conducted with the technical assistance of the Ministry of Health and Population, Family Welfare Division and UNICEF Nepal. In the
program, Dr. Abhiyan Gautam, Head of the Child Health and Vaccination Branch, said that almost all preparations are in place for the vaccination program. He said, "It is estimated that elections and festivals may have some impact on the vaccination period, however, preparations have been made with a plan to start the campaign from the end of Magh and complete it in the first week of Falgun. More information and dates will be made public soon." According to
Branch Head Dr. Gautam, the vaccination will be targeted at 3.5 lakh girls studying in grade 6 who have completed 10 years. Last year, the government vaccinated about 1.7 million girls studying in grades 6 to 10. Last year, there were two doses of the vaccine, but this year only one dose will be given.
'According to various scientific evidence and the Vaccine Advisory Committee, even if a single dose of the vaccine is administered, it will be effective, so this time we are going to give only one dose,' said Dr. Gautam, 'We urge the target group to get vaccinated with confidence without believing in any confusion and misinformation.'
He said that awareness is being spread based on past learnings to ensure that more and more people participate in the vaccination program.
According to the Ministry of Health, it is estimated that an average of four women die from cervical cancer every day in Nepal. It was informed on the occasion that cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer in women and the first leading cause of death from cancer in women. The main cause of cervical cancer is infection with the human papilloma virus. The government is currently providing 11 types of vaccines against 14 diseases.
Dr. Gautam said that Nepal has made significant progress in terms of vaccination coverage compared to developed countries, and that it can be further increased if people's perception of vaccination is created positively.
