ISLAMABAD — This fall saw Pakistan's first-ever campaign to administer the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine , which protects girls from cervical cancer. The vaccine is highly effective, according to global health groups, and is routinely administered in some 150 countries.

It was not a rousing success.

As vaccinators fanned out to schools and other sites in mid-September, they explained that the vaccine would be offered for free to girls ages 9 through 14 and could save their lives if they later contracted HPV, a common sexually transmitted infection that is a major cause of cervical cancer.

In Pakistan, HPV is the third most common cancer, with some 5,000 cases reported annually. The yearly global death toll from the disease is approximately 300,000, with most fatalities in place

See Full Page