PESHAWAR: Health department has sought support of the local clerics belonging to different schools of thought to pave way for human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination campaign to be launched in November.

A workshop was held in collaboration with Unicef with the Mutttahida Ulema Board and Tanzeematul Madaris to promote awareness and prevention of cervical cancer through vaccination, a press release said.

The HPV vaccination drive was carried out in September last year targeting girls aged 9-14 years in Punjab, Sindh, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Islamabad. The workshop was informed that a total of 2.9 million girls will be inoculated. They included 1.6m school-going girls and 1.3m out-of-school girls.

The workshop brought together leading religious scholars from across the province, with representation of all major schools of thought, including Deobandi, Barelvi, Ahle Hadith and Shia, a press release said.

The main purpose of the workshop was to build trust, strengthen coordination and promote joint efforts between religious leaders and health experts to protect women and girls from cervical cancer.

During the discussion the ulema appreciated the initiative and shared valuable recommendations to support the campaign.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2026