Only 55% of Brazilian girls aged 9 to 14 years took the two doses of the vaccine against HPV, in 2020, according to data from the Ministry of Health. The sexually transmitted virus is the main cause of cervical cancer, according to more kills women in Brazil.
According to the José Alencar Gomes da Silva National Cancer Institute (INCA), every year more than 16,000 new cases of the disease are identified in Brazil.
According to Cecilia Martins, president of the National Commission Specialized in Vaccines of the Brazilian Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics Associations (Febrasgo), in order to reduce the circulation of the virus, it is important to reach a percentage of 90% of vaccinated girls.
She clarifies that the pandemic contributed to worsen the scenario, since the restriction of the movement of people made Brazilians move even further away from health centers.
The lack of local campaigns and misinformation are also factors.
“The Ministry of Health makes the doses available and they are left over at the posts, as there is no integration with local governments to develop campaigns to make the population aware of the importance of the vaccine. It is also difficult to convince teenagers to leave their routines to go to health centers because of a virus that many are not aware of”, says Cecilia.
The vaccine against the virus is applied free of charge by the Ministry of Health, through the National Immunization Plan (PNI) and its target audience is girls aged 9-14 and boys aged 11-14. Among them, the immunization rate with the two doses is even lower. Only 36.4% attended the posts to complete the vaccination schedule.
According to Cecília, the vaccination of boys is important to prevent other types of cancer in the genitals and to reduce the circulation of the virus.
In the ranking of federation units with the lowest two-dose vaccination rate for girls, Acre leads with only 33.6% of the target audience vaccinated, followed by Rio Grande do Norte, with 46.2%, and the state in third of Pará, with 43.9%.
The state of Rio de Janeiro comes next, with a vaccination coverage of 44.6%. Among those who most vaccinated are Paraná, with 72.7%, Minas Gerais, with 66.8%, and Santa Catarina, with 65.2%.
Among boys, the states with the lowest rate of complete vaccination schedule are Acre, with 16.4%, Amapá, with 21.9% and Pará, with 23.3%. Those with the highest percentage of vaccinated with the two doses are Paraná, with 59%, Santa Catarina, with 50.7%, and Espírito Santo, with 48.5%.
Reference: CNN Brasil
