RAWALPINDI: The cervical cancer vaccination campaign for girls aged nine to 14 suffered a serious setback on its very first day, as 4,824 parents in Rawalpindi district refused to allow their daughters to be immunised.
The drive, launched jointly by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and the District Health Authority (DHA) without a large-scale public awareness effort, began on September 15 and is scheduled to run until September 27, with a target of vaccinating 387,334 girls.
According to figures released by the Health Department on the opening day, 24,179 girls received the HPV vaccine. Rawalpindi City recorded the highest uptake, with 5,370 inoculations, while parental refusal accounted for 4,824 cases. The twelve-day initiative seeks to immunise nearly 400,000 girls across the district.
Health officials have stressed that the HPV vaccine is both safe and effective, urging parents to ensure their daughters are protected, describing it as a proven safeguard against cervical cancer. They noted that the national immunisation programme already covers 12 life-threatening childhood diseases, with cervical cancer now added to shield women from one of the deadliest threats to their health. The jab is administered as a one-time dose for girls aged nine to 14.
The campaign, however, ran into early resistance largely due to the absence of a comprehensive awareness drive before its official launch on September 15.
Speaking to the media, Dr Ihsan Ghani, the DHA’s Chief Executive, maintained that awareness efforts had in fact been undertaken, though vaccination was made conditional upon parental consent. He observed that public response had been lukewarm, perhaps because the vaccine is being provided free of charge.
Dr Ghani assured parents that the vaccine carries no harmful side effects, aside from a possible mild fever similar to that caused by routine immunisations. He urged families to ensure their daughters receive this one-time protection against cervical cancer, a potentially fatal disease.
Mandatory consent: The education department had earlier made parental consent mandatory for administering cervical cancer prevention vaccines to schoolgirls, following strong protests from parents.
The vaccination campaign, running from September 15 to 27, targets girls aged 9 to 14. Private schools had already opted out while permission forms were distributed, and only girls whose parents provide written consent are receiving the injections.
The News Published in Express Triune on September 17,2025.
