RAWALPINDI: Punjab Health Department has extended the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) campaign for three more days till October 1.

Like other districts of Punjab, the target was missed in Rawalpindi mainly for want of vaccines and the refusal of parents.

According to health department officials, the HPV vaccination campaign has been extended until October 1 to meet the target. They said that the target of the campaign was 395,608 girls, but so far 307,421 girls have been vaccinated.

The officials said that large-scale Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination initiative vaccinated 307,421 young girls against the virus. The initiative, which targeted 395,609 individuals, achieved 77.71pc coverage rate.

Community-based efforts proved most effective, accounting for over 72% of all vaccinations. Only two minor adverse events reported among the hundreds of thousands of doses administered.

While health officials are analysing data on the 64,610 girls who were missed, primarily due to refusals or unavailability of vaccines, to enhance the effectiveness of future public health campaigns.

District Health Authority Chief Executive Officer Dr Ehsan Ghani said that the success rate of the campaign was 72pc in the district; yet, the key challenge was that people were willing to vaccinate their daughters at their localities, but we faced problems in immunising girls in schools where parents had to give consent to school.

He said that Rawalpindi Health Authority is calling on all parents to support the HPV vaccination campaign for girls aged 9 to 14. This vaccine is our best defence against cervical cancer, a disease that affects countless women. He said that the teams are actively working in schools and communities, but a number of girls remain unvaccinated, largely due to refusals based on misinformation.

Earlier in September, Pakistan rolled out the HPV vaccine nationwide as part of the routine immunisation programme to protect adolescent girls against cervical cancer. However, vaccine hesitancy in Pakistan remains a major public health challenge, driven by a mix of misinformation, safety concerns, and mistrust of authorities.

The HPV vaccination campaign is being conducted at fixed centres, outreach sites and schools, and through mobile/special vaccination teams. Outreach vaccination sites had been established in remote areas, and special vaccination teams were deployed to reach high-risk and underserved populations. The HPV vaccine is available free of charge for all eligible girls.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2025