The Ministry of Health (Sometimes) announced today that the process of vaccination against Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) for male children who attend the fifth grade of primary school in public and private schools will begin with the School Year 2023. As is public, the sector had informed that this population group whose ages fluctuate between 9 and 13 years of age would be inoculated.
María Elena Martínez Barrera, executive director of Immunizations at Minsa, recalled that men are the main carriers of the virus, which is the cause of almost all cases of cervical cancer. She added that neighboring countries such as Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay already use the vaccine against HPV in children.
Regarding the progress of this vaccination process against this virus at the country level during the past year, the official specified that the goal is to protect around 600,000 boys and girls nationwide.
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By 2022, more girls will be vaccinated against HPV, making the coverage of this vaccine the best in the last four years. Of January to December, 100% of the target audience received the first dose and 72.62% the second.
At the national level, a total of 22,290 doses against HPV were administered last year, thus continuing to close the vaccination gaps that were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is important to mention that, since the beginning of the 2022 school year, the Ministry of Health (Minsa), in coordination with the Ministry of Education (Minedu), applied the majority of doses in educational institutions.
“After four years we have improved vaccination coverage against Human papilloma virus for girls. Last year we vaccinated more than 200,000 girls with two doses in the country, this is very beneficial because this way we avoid the cervical cancer in women”, Martinez highlighted.
