CHITWAN, Dec 16: In a bid to minimize the risk of uterus cancer among girls, the government has begun a vaccination program targeting the teenage girls of Chitwan and Kaski districts.
The government is sending special invitation cards to the guardians of the girl students studying at grade six in the two districts. The vaccination program would be expanded to all 75 distrcits across the country from next year, officials said.
Women are prone to Papilloma virus that increases the risk of uterus cancer. "The vaccination before a girl reaches the age for reproduction protects them from the risk of cancer," said Bharat Bhandari, officer at Department of Health informing about the reason for targeting teenage girls.
The vaccine will be more effective if administered to the girls of age group of 9-13 years, said Bhandari. The vaccine is currently provided to the targeted girls in 50 countries across the world. But Nepal government is adopting it for the first time although some NGOs had tried it in the past.
The vaccine that costs Rs 10,000 per dose is administered twice to complete its required medical dosage, doctors said. The government would be bearing the entire cost of the vaccine.
The vaccine would be administered to around 8,000 girls in Chitwan, according to Madhu Sudan Koirala, senior public health officer in Chitwan. The program would begin in the first week of January in Chitwan and last for a week in both the districts.
A global data shows that over 270,000 women die of uterus cancer every year and 75 percent of the victims are from the under developed countries like Nepal.
Figures made available by the Bharatpur Cancer Hospital shows that at least 10,000 women suffer from uterus cancer in Nepal alone.
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