AN opposition MP has urged the Government to restart the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination nationwide programme for 13-year-old girls in secondary schools next year.
Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii also called on the Health Ministry (MOH) to prioritise implementing a comprehensive “catch-up” vaccination programme in 2023 for girls who missed their shots from 2020 to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The National Cancer Society of Malaysia (NCSM) recently estimated that half a million teenage girls in Malaysian secondary schools missed their HPV jabs due to school closures during the pandemic and diversion of funding to COVID-19 programmes.
Based on the HPV vaccination rate in previous years, at least 176,944 and 186,593 13-year-old girls would have missed their HPV shots in the disruption of the National Immunisation Programme (NIP) in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
A further 200,000 girls in this cohort are estimated to have missed out on their HPV vaccinations this year, leading to at least 560,000 teenagers in Malaysian secondary schools missing out on their HPV vaccination, which prevents cervical cancer.
In a statement today, Yii, who is also DAP’s spokesperson for health, said cervical cancer is the third-most common cancer among women in Malaysia and is mainly caused by HPV.
Taking HPV vaccines, which prevent HPV infections, protect individuals against 90% of HPV-related cancers, he noted.
“That is why a comprehensive blueprint to ensure proper implementation of the vaccination programme is a top priority and must be clearly reflected in the upcoming Budget 2022/2023.”
“Reduced HPV inoculation rate worrying”
Yii also expressed concern with the NCSM’s discovery of a reduction of HPV inoculations across almost all states and federal territories from 2020 to 2022.
The Parliamentary Special Select Committee on Health, Science and Innovation chairman noted that in Sarawak, where he is from, the rates of successful HPV inoculations decreased from 30% in 2020 to 12.5% in 2022.
On the other hand, not a single district or zone in Kedah, Penang, Perlis, Johor and the three Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan this year reported successful HPV inoculation programmes.
“These worrying statistics have to be taken seriously and, thus, the urgent need to restart and re-prioritise the vaccination programme on top of implementing a comprehensive catch-up plan to better protect our girls from this deadly virus,” Yii said.
Such an issue should not be in the hands of only the Government or MOH but also on the agenda of the state Governments and other ministries, such as the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, he added.
While welcoming Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin’s recent affirmation that cervical cancer can be eliminated, Yii expressed hope that the MOH’s plans to do so will be clearly reflected both in Budget 2023 and in the Health White Paper that Khairy intends to table in Parliament by the year-end.
According to Yii, Khairy made the affirmation during a visit to the Sarawak General Hospital in Kuching yesterday (Sept 5). – Sept 6, 2022
Main pic credit: Getty Images
