Jamaica Cancer Society supports HPV vaccination programme

The Jamaica Cancer Society (JCS) said it endorses the National HPV Vaccination programme that will serve to protect young girls from HPV 16 and 18, the two strains of the HPV family that are responsible for the majority of cervical cancer cases globally.

"Jamaica now join its Caribbean neighbours, Barbados (2014), Trinidad and Tobago (2012), Grand Cayman (2009), Bahamas (2015) and Belize (2016) all of whom have successfully implemented national HPV vaccination programmes with no harm to their young girls," the JCS said yesterday.

It added, however, that there was "absolutely no denying that public education must be a priority in adequately informing the Jamaican population about HPV, its relationship with cervical cancer and the benefits to be accrued, in the long-term, to our young girls who are being vaccinated".

"It is the hope of the Jamaica Cancer Society that in the next decade or two, Jamaica will be reporting cervical cancer incidence in single digit like some developed countries that have successfully implemented national vaccination and cancer screening programmes," the JCS said.