Cervical cancer vaccination drive falters | The Express Tribune
Key Takeaways
- The 14-day cervical cancer vaccination campaign in Rawalpindi failed to meet its target due to widespread parental refusal.
- Parents in both private and government schools actively opposed the vaccination of their daughters without prior permission.
- Health teams submitted falsified data claiming success, which was exposed upon verification with the education department's records.
- The government has approved restarting the campaign, assigning targets to departments specifically for convincing hesitant parents.
- School associations cited a lack of effective pre-launch awareness campaigns as a major contributing factor to the low uptake.
The cervical cancer vaccination campaign in Rawalpindi, intended for girls aged nine to 14 in government and private schools, significantly missed its target due to overwhelming parental disapproval and refusal to allow vaccinations without explicit permission. This resistance was so strong that vaccination teams were sometimes barred from entering private schools, and principals in government schools faced direct warnings from parents. Compounding the failure, some teams submitted falsified data to overstate success, which was subsequently debunked by cross-checking with the education department's records. Health department efforts to persuade parents were unsuccessful, prompting the government to formally approve restarting the campaign with new targets set for district, education, and health departments focused on convincing parents. School association leaders emphasized the lack of an effective prior awareness campaign, suggesting that high-ranking officials should publicly vaccinate their own daughters to build public confidence in the HPV vaccine.
