ISLAMABAD: With less than a month to go before Sindh launches its ambitious HPV vaccination campaign for adolescent girls, a new survey reveals a catastrophic gap in public awareness as only 5 per cent of caregivers in the province have heard of the virus that causes cervical cancer and just 2 per cent are aware of the vaccine meant to prevent it.
The findings confirm what many experts and health journalists have feared: the campaign, meant to protect 4.1 million girls, is dangerously unprepared and risks failing before it even begins.
Conducted by Jhpiego using a representative sample across Sindh, the survey shows that only 23 per cent of caregivers had not even heard of cervical cancer. Even fewer—5 percent—knew what HPV (human papillomavirus) was, and an astonishing 2 per cent had no knowledge of the HPV vaccine.
Among those who had heard of cervical cancer, most wrongly believed it was caused by poor hygiene or mother-to-child transmission. Just 2 percent mentioned HPV as the cause.
The Sindh government, through its Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), plans to launch the province-wide HPV vaccination campaign in September 2025, targeting girls aged 9 to 14. Supported by GAVI and endorsed by the National Technical Advisory Group (NiTAG), this will be the first such large-scale rollout in Pakistan. But on the ground, the picture is grim.
“These numbers are a red alert,” said a senior paediatrician familiar with the campaign. “We are introducing a vaccine that 98 per cent of caregivers have never heard of, for a disease 77 per cent don’t even know exists. That’s not a campaign—it’s a communications disaster.”
Despite huge amount reportedly allocated for awareness, there has been no sustained mass media outreach, no televised public service messages, and no large-scale community engagement. Health journalists across Karachi say they were never invited to any orientation sessions or press briefings.
“They’ve reduced our role to rewriting press releases,” said one frustrated health reporter. “We can’t inform the public when we ourselves are uninformed.”
The lack of awareness is not due to public reluctance alone. In fact, the survey shows that 63 per cent of caregivers were willing to get their daughters vaccinated once they received basic information. Yet concerns persist: 66 per cent cited a lack of clear information as a barrier, while 18 per cent expressed fears about vaccine safety or infertility rumours—issues that could easily be addressed with proper communication but have been left to fester.
Even among health professionals, the disconnect is worrying. A schoolteacher in Karachi’s Gulshan-e-Iqbal area said she had never heard of the vaccine, despite working in education. “How can I trust this vaccine when even my gynaecologist has never mentioned it?” asked Irum Ali, a mother of a 13-year-old girl.
At a recent seminar hosted by the Pakistan Paediatric Association’s (PPA) Sindh chapter at PMA House, top experts including NiTAG Chair Prof Khalid Shafi and gynaecologist Prof Halima Yasmeen presented scientific data to support the campaign. But the event saw little media participation, as it was held on a Sunday without coordination.
Dr Sohail Shaikh, Additional Project Director at EPI Sindh, acknowledged the gaps in advocacy and awareness among both caregivers and health journalists and claimed that the department was planning to launch a mass media campaign to educate the public—particularly parents of adolescent girls—about the HPV vaccine.
“We are also seeking support from international partners like Unicef and planning capacity-building workshops for health journalists and influencers to amplify accurate information and help build public trust,” he added.
Pakistan has one of the highest cervical cancer mortality rates in South Asia, with over 5,000 new cases reported annually. The HPV vaccine, which protects against high-risk strains responsible for 70 per cent of cases, has been available in private clinics for years, but high costs and lack of awareness kept it out of public reach.
“If we don’t act fast, this will be a textbook case of how not to roll out a life-saving intervention,” warned a public health expert. “You can have the best science and logistics, but without public trust, you’re injecting in the dark.”
Published in News Daily on 07-August-2025.