Jan 28, Kathmandu- Four people die every day due to cervical cancer in Nepal.

Prakash Pathak, Public Health Officer at the District Health Office, informed that 2,169 people in Nepal are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year. He said that 61 percent of them i.e. 1,313 people die every year.

Of the more than 200 types of human papillomavirus (HPV), 12 types are the main cause of cervical cancer. HPV vaccination campaign is going to be conducted in Jhapa from January 22nd to 29th.

The Health Office has stated that 54,999 girl students and adolescents in and out of schools in all 15 local levels of the district will be vaccinated against HPV under the vaccination campaign.

Seven hundred and fifty-five vaccination centers, seven hundred and eighty-one health workers, and one thousand five hundred and fifteen volunteers will be mobilized for the HPV vaccination campaign in Jhapa. Out of the seven hundred and fifty-five vaccination centers, there will be five hundred and fifty-seven schools, one hundred and forty health institutions, and forty external centers.

The Government of Nepal is planning to vaccinate girls aged 10 to 14 years, in line with the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation to adopt an integrated three-tiered approach to eliminate the disease by 2030.

In the last fiscal year 2080/081, 10,000 girls from all seven provinces were vaccinated against HPV. According to the World Health Organization, cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women. Every year, 570,000 women in the world are diagnosed with cervical cancer, and 311,000 (55 percent) of women die from this disease every year.