The government is launching a HPV vaccination campaign against cervical cancer for adolescent girls aged between 10 and 14 years in seven divisions.

The vaccination campaign will start from October 24 this year and will continue for the next 18 days. People can register for the vaccination with their 17-digit birth registration number at www.vaxepi.gov.bd website.

Girls aged between 10 and 14 years from all the districts, upazilas, city corporations and municipalities of Chattogram, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barishal, Sylhet, Rangpur and Mymensingh divisions will be able to avail the vaccine.

The government is aiming to vaccinate 62,12,532 girls in these seven divisions.

Vaccinations will be available at educational institutions and EPI centres. Girls from class five to nine and equivalent will get the vaccine from there.

Girls who are not enrolled in schools and fall within the age limit can also take the vaccine from EPI Centres.

Around 15 lakh girls from Dhaka divisions have been given one dose of the HPV Vaccine so far.

This information was revealed in a National Advocacy meeting on HPV Vaccination Campaign 2024 held at a hotel in the capital today.

Speakers from different government and non-government organisations joined the programme and advocated how Cervical cancer can be eliminated from Bangladesh.

MA Akmal Hossain Azad, senior secretary of Health Services Division, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, said, "Our campaign will start from October 24 and will continue for 18 days. We aim to provide this service to over six million girls in seven divisions. Every stakeholder's cooperation is expected to make the campaign successful.

In the meeting, UNICEF Country Representative Emma Brigham said, "Young girls' health and rights must be protected. This campaigning event is an important event for millions of girls across Bangladesh. Let us continue to work together to protect the health and future of millions of girls across Bangladesh.

Dr Rajesh Narwal, deputy WHO representative in Bangladesh, said, "We lose so many lives due to cervical cancer. But this is preventable. We have solutions in our hands. Cervical Cancer is not only preventable, but can also be eliminated. The success of this campaign is crucial, not just for preventing cervical cancer, but it's also a major step in elimination of the disease from Bangladesh by 2030."

Cervical cancer is a type of cancer that occurs in the cells of the cervix -- the lower part of the uterus.

According to ICO-HPV Information Centre 2023, around 8,268 women falls victim to cervical cancer every year and of them 4,971 die.