Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho on Friday categorically dismissed what she termed baseless propaganda against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.
Addressing a press conference at the Karachi Press Club (KPC), she called the HPV vaccine a life-saving intervention that would protect millions of young girls from cervical cancer. She also stated that Sindh’s 12-day HPV vaccination campaign, which was launched on September 15, aimed to vaccinate 4.1 million girls between the ages of nine and 14 years free of charge.
A two-day special vaccination camp for journalists’ families was also inaugurated at the KPC on the occasion. Dr Azra revealed that over 600,000 girls had already received the vaccine in the first five days of the campaign. She condemned disinformation being circulated on social media, describing it as an attempt to sabotage efforts to safeguard women’s health.
“This vaccine is vital for protecting our girls from a deadly disease that affects more than 5,000 women in Pakistan each year and claims around 3,000 lives,” she stated. “The government has filed a complaint under the Cybercrime Act against those spreading lies about the vaccine. Such propaganda has no scientific foundation and is unacceptable.”
The health minister urged the political parties, religious groups and community leaders to rise above their ideological differences and support the campaign. “All girls in this country are like our daughters. It is our duty to protect them. I appeal to the parents not to fall for fake propaganda and ensure their daughters get vaccinated,” she said.
Dr Azra also disclosed that she had written to the prime minister to recommend local production of the HPV vaccine to reduce dependency on imports and save foreign exchange. The campaign gained strength at the KPC when daughters of senior journalists received their first doses of the vaccine. Among them were Aleeza, 10, daughter of APP’s senior reporter Sallahuddin Abbasi, and Shaista, 14, daughter of APP Bureau Chief Abdullah Sarohi.
The camp will continue on Saturday to facilitate vaccination of journalists’ families and raise awareness among the wider public. Prominent medical experts, including Sindh EPI Project Director Dr Raj Kumar, Prof Dr Haleema Yasmeen, Dr Nighat Shah, Dr Farah Naz Qamar, Dr Khalid Shafi, Dr Atika Sher and Dr Ambreen Bhutto joined the health minister at the event. They emphasised that the HPV vaccination was safe, effective and globally recommended.
Several of the experts confirmed that they had already vaccinated their own daughters, underscoring their trust in the vaccine. Unicef representative Suneel Kumar also spoke at the event, noting that the HPV vaccine’s inclusion had expanded the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) to 13 free vaccines for the children in Pakistan. “Despite negative propaganda, parents are bringing their daughters in large numbers. This shows people’s trust in the vaccine,” he said.
The HPV campaign is being carried out in Sindh with support from the EPI, World Health Organization, Unicef and other partners, and runs simultaneously in Punjab, Islamabad, and Azad Jammu & Kashmir. Officials expressed optimism that the Sindh campaign would achieve its ambitious target, securing the health of millions of girls across the province.