ISLAMABAD (Kashmir English): Pakistan’s government has decided to prolong the term of the national cervical cancer vaccination campaign after provinces complained of falling behind vaccination targets.
Punjab, Sindh, Azad Kashmir, and Islamabad will prolong their HPV vaccination campaigns.
The Sindh government has already agreed to extend its cervical cancer vaccination campaign by three days, moving the deadline to September 30.
The province is supposed to officially inform the federal government of its decision tomorrow.
In Islamabad, health authorities are planning to extend the campaign by three to seven days, and Punjab and Azad Kashmir are also expected to approve extensions within the same bracket.
The first-ever countrywide HPV campaign in Pakistan’s history was originally initiated from September 15 to 27, to immunize over 11.7 million girls.
The sources indicated that the extension of the campaign represents provincial pleas as well as the imperative necessity of attaining immunization goals vital to shield women from cervical cancer.
However, More than three million cases of vaccine denial have been reported so far during the first nine days of the first-ever national HPV vaccination campaign.
The majority of the vaccine refusal cases have been witnessed in Punjab, where 21,95,793 individuals refused the vaccine.
In Sindh, 6,59,997 parents declined HPV vaccination for their girls. In Azad Kashmir, 1,27,229, and Islamabad, 58,456 parents declined HPV vaccination.
The national campaign for HPV vaccination has a target to vaccinate 1,17,29,787 girls during the drive.
