Pakistan vaccinates 9 million girls against cervical cancer in nationwide HPV campaign

Dubai: Pakistan has vaccinated about 9 million adolescent girls against the human papillomavirus (HPV), the virus that causes most cervical cancers, as part of a continuing national campaign, Health Minister Mustafa Kamal has said.

The campaign, launched on September 15, aims to vaccinate 13 million girls aged 9 to 14 across the country. So far, the programme has achieved 70 per cent of its goal, according to media reports.

Kamal said the initiative had overcome early resistance, noting that some parents were initially hesitant. To build confidence, he administered the vaccine to his own daughter live on stage at an event in Karachi last week.

“By the grace of God, administering the vaccine to my daughter publicly had a huge impact,” he told The Associated Press.

“In my 30-year political career I have never made my family public. But the way my daughter is dear to me, the nation’s daughters are also dear to me, so I brought her in front of the media.”

According to Kamal, the move helped boost confidence nationwide.

“From the fifth day of the campaign, refusal rates began dropping and acceptance climbed to 70–80 per cent in some districts,” he added.

Cervical cancer is the third most common cancer among Pakistani women after breast and ovarian cancers, and the fourth most common globally. Health authorities estimate that between 18,000 and 20,000 women die of the disease every year in Pakistan.

The campaign was promoted under the slogan “One jab will do the job.” Authorities set up vaccination centres and deployed teams to schools nationwide to reach as many girls as possible. The vaccine is offered free of charge and typically causes only minor side effects, officials said.

The 13 million girls targeted in the first phase are from Punjab, Sindh and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. By 2027, the programme will expand to other areas, with the national goal of eliminating cervical cancer as a public health problem by 2030. Pakistan has also become the 149th country to add the HPV vaccine to its routine immunisation schedule.

Globally, in 95 per cent of cases, cervical cancer is caused by persistent infection with HPV, a virus that spreads through sexual activity, including non-penetrative sex, and that affects almost everyone at some point in their lives. The World Health Organisation has endorsed the HPV vaccine as a safe and effective protection, with a long history of saving lives in more than 150 countries.

Cervical cancer is particularly dangerous in low- and middle-income countries because of limited awareness and screening. Unicef says around 5,000 women are diagnosed annually in Pakistan.

Experts underline that awareness campaigns are essential, especially in societies where cultural taboos around sexual health persist. Medical professionals stress that HPV is a virus that can affect anyone and that vaccination offers the most reliable protection.

In Europe, where HPV vaccination has been widely adopted, there were around 30,000 diagnoses across all 27 EU nations in 2020, of which about one-third of women died, according to the European Commission.

By integrating the HPV vaccine into its national health strategy, Pakistan is taking a major step toward protecting future generations of women and joining the global effort to eliminate cervical cancer.