The Ministry of Health and Social Protection launched, Wednesday, October 12, the vaccination campaign against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) aimed at preventing cancer of the cervix.
This new campaign is part of the National Cancer Prevention and Control Plan 2020-2029 and the Government Program 2021-2026. The objective of HPV vaccination is to prevent and reduce the occurrence of precancerous genital lesions in cancers of the cervix and CCU due to certain oncogenic types of HPV. It materializes the Kingdom’s commitment to the fight against cervical cancer with the progressive objective of achieving a vaccination coverage rate exceeding 90% of the target population by 2025.
This new vaccine is now part of the Ministry’s National Vaccination Calendar. Its introduction is in line with the objectives of the vaccination strategy of the World Health Organization (WHO) which aims to eliminate CCU as a public health problem. The campaign intervenes in particular following the recommendations drawn up in 2010 by the National Technical and Scientific Consultative Committee for Vaccination and confirmed this year. It seems that this committee succeeded in approving the effectiveness of the vaccine against HPV, especially for the people concerned.
However, the target population for this program is 11-year-old girls. The vaccination will thus be divided into 2 doses which necessarily require an interval of 6 months between the two. It will be organized at the level of all Primary Health Care Establishments (ESSP) in the form of fixed and mobile units.
The Ministry of Health has tried to organize training for the health personnel who will take care of the vaccination in order to guarantee the success of the campaign and its progress. They cover the various technical and programmatic aspects of this operation and are aligned with national guidelines. The ministry has also developed a national vaccine introduction plan and guide to ensure the relevance of the campaign.
According to a specialized source contacted by Hespress FR, the vaccine that will be used during the campaign is called “GARDASIL”. It is a suspension prepared from highly purified virus-like particles (VLP) of the recombinant major capsid (L1) protein of HPV types 6,11,16,18.
It will be administered intramuscularly, not intravascularly, in the deltoid region which represents the upper arm or will be injected into the upper anterolateral area of the thigh.
The vaccine may present undesirable effects after its injection such as pain, erythema, swelling, bruising, pruritus and this at the level of the part where it was administered, added the same source, noting that fever is also one of the most frequent elements that can appear next.
This is also why the Ministry has required, as a precautionary measure, an observation period of 15 minutes after the injection in order to check whether the vaccinated person has any of these symptoms or is hypersensitive to the component of the vaccine.