Matanzas Makes Progress in Human Papillomavirus Vaccination.

The Health System in Matanzas, in coordination with the Ministry of Education, has been conducting a vaccination campaign against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV), the leading cause of cervical cancer, since October 27th. In this first phase, the campaign is targeting nine-year-old girls in the fourth grade. Dr. Berta María Bello, deputy director of the Provincial Center for Hygiene, Epidemiology, and Microbiology, explained the details of this decision and the objectives of the immunization.

«This vaccine is already available in 48 countries in the Americas. In Cuba, it was both a necessity and a long-held desire to have access to the vaccine. The decision was made to begin with girls in the fourth grade, at nine years old.

The vaccine should not be administered to girls younger than that age, due to all the studies that have been done on the issue of early sexual activity, which show that the Human Papillomavirus is involved and is also the main risk factor for cervical cancer.» This is the disease that will protect these girls who are being vaccinated.

The director also clarified that, while other countries have extended the vaccine to other age groups and to males, this is the starting point for Cuba, prioritizing the protection of future generations of women against a highly transmissible virus. Regarding the campaign’s development in the current epidemiological context, Dr. Bello emphasized: «Because everything must continue, vaccination must continue.

That is to say, vaccination did not stop with the COVID pandemic, nor does it stop during periods of epidemiological peaks. A campaign that was already planned was launched; it took months of joint work between the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Education.» The campaign, which will run until December 27th in the municipalities, is already showing significant progress. Matanzas has exceeded 40 percent coverage in its target population.