2,300 girls to receive HPV vaccination in Dhangadhi

Dhangadhi: A total of 2,300 girls in Dhangadhi Sub-metropolitan City, Kailali, are set to be vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV) as part of a campaign to prevent cervical cancer.

The vaccination campaign will run from Magh 27 to Falgun 4. Yogesh Awasthi, head of the sub-metropolitan city’s health department, stated that this year’s campaign will primarily target girls studying in grade 6. In addition, girls aged 11 to 14 who missed vaccination last year and out-of-school girls aged 10 to 14 will also be included. Since the vaccine is administered only once, girls who received it last year are not required to be vaccinated again. Last year, the sub-metropolitan city vaccinated 10,135 girls aged 10 to 14 in grades 6 to 10.

Awasthi added that 135 vaccination centers have been designated for this year’s campaign, and 707 girls were vaccinated on the first day alone. Health authorities estimate that 2,169 women in Nepal develop cervical cancer annually, of whom approximately 1,313 die each year. Cervical cancer, the second most common cancer among women, remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women. It is caused by the HPV virus, with types 16 and 18 considered particularly high-risk, according to health workers.