HPV vaccine needs parental approval: Ministry
dubai — After a backlash on social media on the negative effects of the cervical cancer vaccine (HPV), Ministry of Health and Prevention (Mohap) has said that the vaccine will be part of the National Immunisation Programme (NIP) and as is the case with all vaccines, will need parental approval.
Dr Hussein Al Rand, assistant undersecretary of health centres and clinics at the ministry, said that when Abu Dhabi introduced the vaccine 10 years ago, the same kind of resistance was met. “Like all other vaccines, this vaccine will require approval from the parents.”
Dr Nada Al Marzouqi, director of preventives medicine department at the ministry, said that it was important to reach the community with the right kind of information.
“It is a safe vaccine and Abu Dhabi has been using this for 10 years,” she said, adding that 90 per cent of the female population was now receiving the vaccine in Abu Dhabi. She also said that at a later stage, the vaccine will also be given to boys.
Earlier this week, the ministry announced that the vaccine will be part of the NIP and will be given to schoolgirls of Grade 8 and onwards in Dubai and Northern Emirates for free. “The vaccine is not available right now but we will have it soon,” Dr Al Rand, had told Khaleej Times. “In October, we will have a big campaign to raise awareness and launch the campaign,” he added.
However, soon after the announcement, the decision was opposed on social media.
Mouza Tahwarah, a Twitter user opined: “The vaccine is compulsory in the West because of the interest of the American pharmaceutical companies who want to fill their own pockets.
“The pharmaceutical firms are pushing for this decision and this vaccine could distort our generations by causing ovarian cancer or mental retardation,” she tweeted. Other tweets seconded her opinion.
The decision to introduce the vaccine was part of a ministerial decree recently signed by the Mohap. Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among Abu Dhabi women, even though it is preventable.
According to the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Information Centre of the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), 2017 estimates indicated that every year 93 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 28 die from the disease in the UAE.