Battling against rumors the jab causes infertility, Pakistan has successfully vaccinated approximately nine million girls aged nine to 14 against the human papillomavirus, according to international media reports from earlier in October.
The conservative Islamic country aims to vaccinate 13 million young girls after starting the campaign on September 15.
Health Minister Mustafa Kamal, according to the Associated Press, said the campaign has reached 70% of its goal, despite parents spreading rumors that the vaccine could inhibit their daughters’ ability to procreate.
To combat the fears, Kamal’s own daughter was vaccinated on a public stage in Karachi last week.
“By the grace of God, administering the vaccine to my daughter publicly had a huge impact,” Kamal told AP. “From the fifth day of the campaign, refusal rates began dropping and acceptance climbed to 70–80% in some districts.”
Despite the efforts though, rumors persist and some parents remain reluctant.
“I have heard that the vaccination is being used to make women infertile and reduce the population of Muslims,” Ali Sheikh, a mother of two in Karachi, told AP.
Kamal confirmed he had heard the conspiracy that the vaccine was a Western plot to weaken the Islamic population numbers.
She said that “social media is full of such claims,” and recounted how relatives instructed her to not give consent for the vaccine.
that she was advised by relatives not to allow health workers to vaccinate her daughters.
The dangers of HPV
Following breast and ovarian cancer, cervical cancer caused by HPV is the third most common cancer diagnosed in Pakistani women and the fourth most common globally.
Between 18,000 and 20,000 women in Pakistan die of cervical cancer annually.
HPV is the leading risk factor for cervical cancer, resulting in the deaths of many women each year, particularly those in their 30s and 40s, according to Israel’s Health Ministry. HPV also contributes to anal, oral, and oropharyngeal cancers in both men and women, as well as vaginal and vulvar cancers in women and penile cancer in men.
Additionally, these viruses can cause warts on the genitals, skin, throat, and vocal cords, the ministry warned.