HPV Vaccination Drive

Coinciding with the World Cancer Day, Nepal launched a free Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination campaign against cervical cancer on Tuesday. The two-week-long drive seeks to vaccinate around 1.7 million adolescent girls, including those studying in grades 6 to 10 in schools and those aged between 10 and 14 years who are not studying in school. Cervical cancer is considered a silent killer, claiming the lives of 1,313 women annually. Around 2,169 women are diagnosed with this deadly disease. Several studies have revealed that this vaccine provides 97 per cent protection against the HPV. The anti-cervical cancer initiative bears significance given that the country's health facilities are not up to the mark. In the past, many women succumbed to this preventable non-communicable disease in the absence of vaccination. Now with the vaccine invention, more lives have been protected, reducing the death rate of women and increasing their longevity.