Karachi: Influenced by misconceptions and social media propaganda, a large number of parents are refusing to let their daughters receive the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in Sindh and other parts of the country, with reports suggesting that even teachers are advising families against the life-saving vaccination.
Authorities, meanwhile, have failed to convince school administrations and educators about the benefits of the campaign.
“My wife, who is a teacher, not only asked parents not to get their daughters vaccinated against HPV but also refused to allow our two daughters to be vaccinated, who study in the same school where she is teaching,” said Nauman Ahmed, a resident of Federal B Area Block 20.
He said his wife had been influenced by social media posts from non-professionals who linked the vaccine with sexual activities and infertility among adolescent girls.
Similar reports have surfaced from Keamari, Baldia and other areas of Karachi with low literacy rates, as well as different districts across the country, where teachers themselves discouraged vaccination. In Keamari, Central, South and Malir districts of Karachi, health workers said even less than 10 percent of eligible girls could be vaccinated due to refusals from parents.
There were also accounts of data manipulation as some teams feared retribution for poor coverage, claiming that communities, parents and school administrations showed extreme hesitation and openly resisted the drive.
Many schools sent consent forms to parents but were advised not to allow vaccination, while some parents warned that they would withdraw their children from schools if the vaccine was administered.
Hammad Hussain, owner of a group of schools in Baldia Town, said that 99 percent of parents refused to get their daughters vaccinated against HPV.
A former official of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) Sindh who requested anonymity, also confirmed that during visits to schools in District Central, he witnessed parents directing school administrations not to permit HPV vaccination.
The administration of a leading school, Usman Public School, issued a notice to parents stating that on behalf of the Ministry of Health, the HPV vaccine would be administered to female students aged 9–14 years.
Parents were asked to sign consent forms, or provide a separate application if they wished to arrange the vaccination privately.
Reports of refusals were not limited to Karachi alone. Similar cases were documented in Punjab, including Lahore, Rawalpindi and smaller towns, where parents declined vaccination due to widespread misconceptions on social media.
Officials involved in the vaccination drive blamed the education departments for their failure to back the drive, saying only notifications and circulars were issued asking the school administrations to ensure ‘100 percent’ vaccination but no concrete measures were taken to support the health department officials.
In Sindh, the government launched its first-ever province-wide HPV vaccination campaign on September 15 with the target of vaccinating millions of girls aged 9–14 against the virus, which causes cervical cancer.
The drive was rolled out through schools, madrasahs, fixed immunisation centres and outreach teams, but coverage has remained far below target in many districts due to parental hesitancy.
Despite repeated attempts, the Federal Directorate of Immunization (FDI) in Islamabad and Sindh health department refused to comment on the issue and no version was provided until the filing of this report.
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