HPV Vaccination Campaign to Target Over 2,400 Adolescent Girls in Baitadi District

Baitadi. The HPV vaccine, administered against cervical cancer, is set to be given to 2,453 adolescent girls in the district. According to Harish Bhatta, Vaccination Supervisor Inspector at the Health Office, the vaccination campaign will run across the district from Magh 27 to Falgun 2.

He stated that the vaccine will be administered to female students studying in Grade 6 in schools across all ten local levels of the district, adolescent girls aged 10 who are out of school, and those who missed the campaign last year.

While the HPV vaccine was given to adolescent girls as a campaign last year, this year it has been included in the routine immunization schedule. It is reported that 2,453 individuals will receive the vaccine in Baitadi this year, comprising 2,386 students studying in Grade 6, 61 who missed last year's campaign, and six 10-year-old girls outside of school.

Last year, 10,310 adolescent girls aged 10 to 14, including students from Grade 6 to 10 and those out of school, were administered the HPV vaccine. This year, local levels are preparing within their respective municipalities to administer the HPV vaccine to adolescent girls, and vaccination centers have been designated for each school.

Dr. Pavin Upadhyay, Acting Chief of the District Hospital, stated that the HPV vaccine against cervical cancer is completely safe and should be taken without hesitation. The Health Office has indicated that vaccination is mandatory to prevent the disease, given the annual loss of women's lives due to cervical cancer in Nepal.