"As vaccinators fanned out to schools and other sites in mid-September, they explained that the vaccine would be offered for free to girls ages 9 through 14 and could save their lives if they later contracted HPV, a common sexually transmitted infection that is a major cause of cervical cancer. In Pakistan, HPV is the third most common cancer, with some 5,000 cases reported annually."
"They wanted to know if the vaccine would affect their daughters' ability to have children later on and why foreign organizations such as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, UNICEF and the World Health Organization were involved in the campaign. (Health experts say there's no data to suggest that the vaccine affects fertility. The concern stemmed from videos parents had seen in WhatsApp groups with the longstanding rumor that the vaccine is a population control ploy by Western funders to sterilize Muslims.)"
Pakistan launched its first campaign to administer the human papillomavirus vaccine to girls ages 9 through 14, offering it for free at schools and other sites. Vaccinators aimed to prevent cervical cancer, which ranks as the third most common cancer in Pakistan with about 5,000 cases annually. Teams encountered fierce parental resistance rooted in concerns about future fertility, questions about vaccinating only girls, and suspicion of foreign funders including Gavi, UNICEF and the World Health Organization. Rumors circulated via WhatsApp that the vaccine was a Western sterilization plot. Health experts state there is no data linking the vaccine to infertility.
Read at www.npr.org
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