25 Mar 2015

Over 95 per cent of girls aged between nine and 13 years have so far received the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine. The percentage in numerical terms is 58 867 out of a possible 61 442 girls.

Chief public relations officer in the Ministry of Health, Ms Doreen Motshegwa said in an interview that the remaining 4.2 per cent came as a result of different circumstances such as non-compliance or refusal by some parents citing issues of religion, culture or inadequate information about the HPV vaccine.

She said the remaining per cent will be covered as the ministry had made a decision to extend the vaccination to junior secondary and private schools in an effort to vaccinate all the eligible girls.
Ms Motshegwa said the second dose for those who were vaccinated during February 23-27 which was specifically targeting school group girls in standard 5, 6 and 7 and out of school girls aged 9-13.

Regarding challenges during the February exercise, Ms Motshegwa said they experienced challenges in identification and registration of out of school girls, hard to reach communities due to geographical access, and non - compliance or refusal by some community members due to various reasons such religion and culture. ENDS