Public Health Ministry hosts HPV vaccination awareness

Medical officials within the Public Health Ministry have hosted a special meeting with parents at the Mae’s School in Subryanville, Georgetown, where discussions were held on the importance and accompanying benefits of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccines.
This comes against the backdrop of the HPV vaccination programme’s October re-launch, which is being facilitated by the Ministries of Public Health and Education.
The Human Papilloma Virus is sexually transmitted by both males and females, and it causes cervical cancer, which is most common in women under the age of 35. Dr Surendra Persaud of Caribbean Surgery, who moderated the hour-long session, informed the gathering of some of the signs of cervical cancer, which include bleeding after sex; bleeding after menopause; unusual vaginal discharge – with or without blood; swelling on one or both upper thighs, and pelvic pain coupled with weight loss.

Dr Persaud also addressed Government’s plans to make the HPV vaccine available to all girls aged 9 to 13 during this month, whereby some 36,000 girls will be targeted. The gathering was told that the vaccine will be given in 2 doses 6 months apart, and that it is most effective in persons between 9 and 16 years old. He noted the benefits of early detection, noting that screening can prevent 60-80 per cent of cervical cancers.
Other medical personnel present at Mae’s highlighted the “negative publicity” that the campaign attracted in the past. To this end, it was emphasised that the HPV vaccine “does not promote promiscuity”. However, during the question-and-answer segment, one parent questioned the reasoning behind giving the vaccine to teens and pre-teens that are not sexually active. Dr. Persaud, however, countered that the early vacanation is a matter of immunity.
“If we are protecting you against something, there’s a science behind how long you need for your body to develop the immunity,” he noted.
The two HPV vaccines on the market are Gardasil and Cervarix, and both vaccines protect against HPV-16 and HPV-18. Gardasil also protects against HPV-6 and HPV-11 which cause 90 per cent of genital warts.
In Guyana, 27 in every 100,000 women die of cervical cancer annually, with women between the ages of 15 and 39 being the most at-risk group.
Each year, cervical cancer affects about 500,000 women, and causes about 260,000 deaths across the world. Screening by pap smear or visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) aims to detect precancerous regions in the cervix, and to treat them so that the cancer does not develop.
The re-launching of the HPV Vaccination Campaign sees a host of local nurses, midwives, doctors and practitioners from both the public and private health sectors in Guyana being encouraged to educate persons about HPV and the benefits of the vaccination.