Preparations for the national campaign to protect girls from cervical cancer have been completed, and the list of public, private girls’ schools and madrasas has been finalized for the vaccination drive.
According to details, the country’s first-ever national cervical cancer prevention campaign will begin tomorrow and will be conducted in Punjab, Sindh, Islamabad, and Azad Kashmir.
Sources revealed that HPV vaccines and syringes have been supplied to Azad Kashmir, federal areas, and provinces. The cervical cancer vaccination campaign will run from September 15 to 27. Punjab has been provided with 8.8 million HPV vaccine doses, Sindh with 4 million doses, Azad Kashmir with 349,000 doses, and the Islamabad Health Department with 152,000 doses.
During the campaign, 13 million girls will be vaccinated with one dose of the HPV vaccine, targeting girls aged 9 to 14 years. The HPV vaccine will be available in public and private girls’ schools as well as madrasas.
Sources further stated that the HPV vaccine will also be available at fixed sites, community centers, and mobile units. Pakistan has received HPV vaccines and syringes worth Rs. 10 billion from Gavi, which will support the vaccination campaign in three phases.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, HPV vaccination will take place in 2026, while in 2027 it will be introduced in Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan. Gavi will provide free HPV vaccines to Pakistan for all three phases.
Pakistan will soon include the HPV vaccine in its routine immunization program under the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI). As part of routine immunization, girls up to 9 years of age will be vaccinated, and the government will procure HPV vaccines for this purpose.
