Parents urged: Give your kids HPV vaccine
MANILA, Philippine — Doctors lamented on Wednesday the apparent lack of urgency among parents to have their kids vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV), which could help prevent sexual infections and cervical cancer.
The Philippine Infectious Diseases Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology (Pidsog) observed that parents prioritize vaccines against common diseases such as measles, flu and polio for their children and usually put off vaccination against HPV.
Some parents totally forget to have their kids get the HPV vaccine, the group said, adding that the HPV vaccine should ideally be given to children as young as 9 years old.
“There’s this thinking [among some parents] to just give the vaccine prior to their children being exposed [to sexual activities]. What they don’t see is we need protection from [HPV] way before exposure to the virus,” Pidsog president Dr. Edwin de Mesa told reporters at the launch of the Guard Against HPV campaign.
To be fully immunized, one should get three shots of the vaccine. Government hospitals and barangay health centers offer it for free. On the market, each shot can cost P3,500.
According to Department of Health estimates, more than 7,200 women contract cervical cancer every year, with 11 dying from the disease, primarily caused by HPV, every day.
HPV also causes vaginal, penile, anal and oropharyngeal cancers.
In the Senate, President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said the government’s proposed P7.5-billion immunization program for 2020 should come with a public information campaign to get the public to trust vaccines once again.
“Allocating funds for the purchase of vaccines is no longer enough. It should be paired with a creative information drive that will assure parents that vaccines are safe and important,” Recto said in a statement. —With Leila B. Salaverria
