Schoolgirls to be given HPV vaccine
By TMG Editor - 18 February 2014
EASTERN Cape schoolgirls will start receiving the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine next month, the provincial Health Department confirmed yesterday.
Schoolgirls aged between nine and 13 who are in Grade 4 will be immunised against HPV as part of a national campaign.
The World Health Organisation recommends that young girls be vaccinated against HPV, a sexually transmitted disease that causes the majority of cervical cancers.
Parents will be asked to fill in con- sent forms for children under the age of 12, with those older able to give consent themselves. – Estelle Ellis
