HPV VACCINE

 It breaks my heart when I come across patients who have negative misconceptions about vaccination. We have come a long way in medicine when we used to have various infectious diseases wipe out a whole population, or leave thousands with multiple disabilities. The discovery of the Human Papillomavirus by Harold Zur Hausen as the causative agent for various cancers, such as the cervix, anus, and oropharyngeal, was a major scientific breakthrough. He won a Nobel Prize for this. Later on, we had the HPV vaccine coming around 2006, to prevent our youth from being infected with the virus, and decrease the rate of precancerous cervical lesions and other HPV related cancers. 

The HPV vaccine has been available in South Africa since 2009. There have been numerous international studies showing that the vaccine works. The number of women diagnosed with precancerous lesions has declined after the introduction of the HPV vaccines. What we need to do as health care providers is to educate young women, to get vaccinated before they become sexually active, around the age of 9. HPV is a sexually transmitted disease, and boys also need to be vaccinated. Due to financial constraints, the governments are funding women to be vaccinated. 

The rise of vaccine misinformation in conventional and social media has contributed to growing distrust in vaccines in general, including the HPV vaccine. All related health care workers, such as paediatricians, Obstetricians and gynaecologists, and public health experts must respond with evidence-based messaging that emphasizes cancer prevention. Social media sends controversial messages that the HPV vaccine causes infertility, autoimmune disorders, or promotes early sexual activity.