Bulacan expands cervical cancer vaccination to immunize 21,000 young girls
Gov. Daniel Ramirez Fernando graces the ceremonial human papillomavirus vaccination for youth. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
ABOUT 120 female learners aged 9 to 14 from public schools in Plaridel, Pulilan and Bulakan successfully received the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine as part of the local government’s efforts to guard the youth against cervical cancer.
While preventable, cervical cancer ranked as the second most killing cancer among females; with 12 Filipinas dying every day. By making immunization accessible to the community, local government and health departments could push for more young women to be vaccinated early on.
The local government of Bulacan, provincial representatives from the Department of Health (DoH), the Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the Department of Education (DepEd), alongside health care company MSD Philippines promoted access and administration of the vaccine to grade 4 female students. Its latest run vaccinated students from Pulilan, Plaridel and Bulakan, and would continue to vaccinate more schoolchildren until the targets within the province had been reached.
The school-based immunization program aimed to vaccinate 21,000 female students aged 9 to 14 within the province of Bulacan. Currently, almost half of the target had been achieved, and 10,000 vaccines had been deployed to local government units in Bulacan to administer in their respective health center units.
DepEd representative and Plaridel Central School Principal Ma. Lorena Cardenas showed her support for the program and DepEd’s role in the initiative.
Cardenas said: “We are indeed eager to support the HPV vaccine, where our learners from Grade 4 will benefit. This program is good enough to help our learners, and as school partners, you can accommodate our learners, and our support will be in expanding the literacy among our parents, our learners and our community school stakeholders.”
To further expand the impact of this immunization effort, the HPV vaccines allotted for Bulacan had been dispersed in various health centers within the province to encourage more young women to get vaccinated against HPV.
Dr. Sheila Mae Yu-Geronimo, Development Management Officer 4 for Provincial DoH office in Bulacan, shared: “We have started vaccinations since April. The launch today is the mark of our continuous vaccination efforts until we cover 100-percent completion for our young women.”
Vice Gov. Alexis Castro reiterated the importance of HPV prevention through vaccination: “The HPV vaccine is crucial for us to prevent serious illnesses. The problem is, when we are already sick is the time we seek medical assistance. But we can reduce the number of patients if we’re more focused on prevention.”
A part of this initiative was the official launch of the community-based availability of the HPV vaccine through the Bulacan strengthening HPV immunization [toward] elimination and leadership development or Shield against cervical cancer program. This vaccination expansion was crucial in the province’s mission to prevent cervical cancer through early immunization.