Port Louis. 31 January 2023. Mauritius is moving a step ahead in its fight against cancer by extending the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme to boys aged 9 to 15 years old as well girls.
The national HPV communication campaign was launched on 13 January 2023 by the Health Minister, Dr the Hon kailesh Kumar Jagutpal and Dr Anne Ancia WHO Representative in Mauritius at the seats of the Ministry of Health and Wellness.
The World Health Organization collaborated closely with the Ministry of Health and Wellness to produce four short videos on HPV as part of the sensitization campaign to inform the population of the benefits of HPV vaccination and the importance of vaccinating both boys and girls against HPV.
In his address, Dr Jagutpal said, “HPV vaccination is part of the National Cancer Control Programme 2022-2025 and had proven to be very effective in reducing the risk of HPV-related cancers.” He added, “vaccinating both boys and girls aged 9 to 15 years old against HPV is crucial to protect them later in life from certain types of cancers.” It is the main cause of cervical cancer in women and penile cancer in men, and might as well cause head, neck and anus cancers in women and men, he further added.
Some75 officers of the Ministry of Health and Wellness, have been thus trained on this new vaccination programme. According to the Minister of Health and Wellness, the training of the health professionals is important as this is a new vaccination programme.
“Health professionals involved in the HPV vaccination programme should be able to provide the right information and they need to have a comprehensive knowledge on HPV vaccination to be able it to answer any questions parents might have regarding vaccination of boys”, said Dr the Hon Jagutpal.
