Mauritius: The Human Papillomavirus vaccination (HPV) campaign targeting young boys and girls kick-started today during a one-day workshop held at the Gold Crest Hotel, Quatre Bornes, in the presence of Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Kailesh Kumar Singh Jagutpal.
Professor John Anthony Tidy from the Gynaecological Oncology of the National Health Service, UK, is the key resource person facilitating the workshop.
The impact of HPV vaccination and HPV primary screening on cervical cancer, as well as developing gynaecological oncology, are the topics that will be addressed by Professor Tidy. He is a Trustee of the British Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology and has been involved in the HPV Vaccination Campaigns in the UK. Participants will benefit from his experience in the field of HPV Vaccination and his recommendations for Mauritius.
Delivering his keynote address, Dr Jagutpal pointed out that the HPV vaccination is part of the National Cancer Control Programme 2022-2025 which aims to highlight Primary Intervention through vaccination against HPV, Secondary Intervention via screening and treatment of precancerous lesions and Tertiary Prevention, that is, Diagnosis and Treatment of invasive cancer.
The National Cancer Control Programme of Ministry, he emphasised, recommends including not only young girls but boys as well in the HPV Vaccination Programme in line with guidelines of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Minister Jagutpal observed that from 2016 till date, more than 88,000 girls had been vaccinated against HPV with the Cervarix vaccine, a bivalent HPV vaccine directed against two strands of HPV most associated with Cervical Cancer, namely Types 16 and 18 in line with WHO recommendations.
“We are today proposing to introduce as from March 2023 a Nonavalent vaccine for boys and girls which protects against nine types of Cancers and Sexually Transmissible Diseases, namely HPV types 6, 11, 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52 and 58”, he said, adding that this will be offered free of charge.
Elaborating on the HPV Vaccine, the Health Minister indicated that it might be of three types which are namely, Bivalent, Quadrivalent, and Nonavalent. Mauritius, he underlined, will have the privilege to introduce the use of Nonavalent Vaccines, which are used in countries such as the UK, USA, Europe, as well as most developed countries of Asia. The Nonavalent vaccine will provide additional protection against HPV and will be offered to both boys and girls, he added.
