Quezon City with the Department of Health (DOH), and Department of Health (DepEd) introduced the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine through the School-based Immunization (SBI) program, for all public elementary schools in Quezon City.
Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is a viral infection that’s passed between people through skin-to-skin contact. Some are passed through sexual contact and can affect your genitals, mouth, or throat.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a person infected with HPV may develop genital warts, cervical cancer, anal cancer, throat cancer, vagina and vulvar cancer or penile cancer.
Recently, Mayor Joy Belmonte promote women’s rights and welfare by providing a free breast and cervical cancer screening caravan as part of the International Women’s Month celebration.
The said program is to help protect girls against the cervical caner later in their life. The “Back to BakUNA” SBI program is one of the multi-stakeholder initiatives that demonstrate the importance of getting early immunization especially for young women, before they are exposed to HPV.
By initiating the HPV vaccination as a healthcare services in schools is an important step to fortify the community’s protection against such diseases. This is also inline with the DOH to promote the importance of Kalasag ng Kalusugan (Health Shield) by providing healthcare services for all the communities and making vaccines readily available.
The SBI Program’s HPV vaccination is administered to female students aged 9-14 years old. And the parent’s consent must first be obtained by the school officials prior administrating the said vaccine.
Sources: The Philippine Star, healthline.com,
Photo Sources: manilastandard.net, scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org,
