GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) — The Guyana government Tuesday said it will embark on a programme to vaccinate approximately 36,000 girls between the ages of 9-16 years with the HPV vaccine.

The Ministry of Health said that it is collaborating with the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and World Health Organization (WHO) in launching the programme.

Speaking at a news conference, representatives from PAHO/WHO and the Public Health Ministry said the team is aiming to distribute approximately 40,000 doses of the vaccine among young girls across the regions of Guyana. The campaign is due to start on October 16.

According to PAHO/WHO Representative, Dr William Adu-Krow, the main purpose of the HPV vaccine is to prevent cervical cancer. He added the vaccine also protects against genital warts in both females and males.

He said that while not new, the HPV vaccine has been administered in several countries and described it as the best chance of preventing cervical cancer.

He said according to PAHO/WHO and Public Health data reviews, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among Guyanese women.

“In Guyana, during the period 2003 – 2012, Guyana recorded 6,518 new cases of cancers for an overall cumulative incidence rate of 867.7 per 100,000 populations. Of the 3,956 sixty percent were females and 2,561 thirty nine percent were males, giving a female to male ratio of 1.54:1.”

The PAHO/WHO representative revealed that Indo-Guyanese were found to have the largest proportion of cases at 47 per cent, followed by Afro-Guyanese at 30 per cent and 11 per cent among mixed races.