HPV vaccines in high demand locally – acting MCH Officer

― ministry to extend vaccination coverage to boys

― Age range is now 9 to 16 years

DPI, Guyana, Tuesday, March 5, 2018

Following an increase in demand for the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine the Ministry of Public Health is extending the age range coverage and now allowing boys to receive the vaccine.

According to Maternal and Child Health Officer(ag), Dr. Oneka Scott of the Ministry of Public Health, this increase in demand is due to several awareness initiatives conducted by the ministry since reintroducing the vaccine in 2017.

Dr. Scott also said that parents are now taking the responsibility to educate themselves about their children’s health and well-being while taking note of the many cancers and other adverse conditions the HPV causes.

The ministry has long considered the introduction of the HPV vaccines to boys as it was often called for by several senior health officials. However, the primary focus at the time was girls between the ages of 9 to 13.

“There was huge demand from the public to have the vaccine administered to boys as is done in other countries. More and more parents and adults are reading and they are educating themselves on the benefits. The incidence of genital warts and cervical cancer is now information that is accessed by parents.” Dr. Scott explained.

She said the Ministry of Public Health will have to accelerate the pace since the coverage scope is now more extensive. Dr. Scott also said the successful awareness campaign is now intensified so that other parents who are still unsure may receive the necessary information to have their children vaccinated.

“We decided to go back and mop up on our second dose, catch up rather. As a ministry, we are going to meet some of those demands and offer the vaccines since it is a chance for life to the older age group.”

Initially, when the HPV vaccines were reintroduced, 40,000 girls between the ages of nine to 13 years were identified to receive the first dose, locally. Since then, a policy review was done, and the ministry concluded that a wider range can be covered from 2019 onwards.

“Whenever we buy vaccines, we look at our target and earlier when we bought the vaccines our target was the 9-13 age group but what the ministry’s policy took into consideration was that there was a lot of demand to give the vaccines to the older age group from high schools all around the country. So for this campaign, we have extended the age to 16.” The acting MCH officer said.

The introduction of HPV vaccines to boys in Guyana is supported by the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO). The main purpose of the HPV vaccine is to prevent cervical cancer. The vaccine also protects against genital warts in both females and males.

Delicia Haynes.

Images: Giovanni Gajie.