Influenced by misconceptions and social media propaganda, a large number of parents are refusing to let their daughters be administered the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in Sindh and other parts of the country, with reports suggesting that even teachers are advising families against the life-saving vaccination.
The authorities, meanwhile, have failed to convince school administrations and educators about the campaign’s benefits. “My wife, who’s a teacher, not only asked parents not to get their daughters vaccinated against HPV but also refused to allow our two daughters, who study at the same school where she’s teaching, to be vaccinated,” said Nauman Ahmed, a resident of Federal B Area Block 20.
Ahmed said his wife has been influenced by social media posts from non-professionals, who link the vaccine with sexual activities and infertility among adolescent girls. Similar reports have surfaced from Keamari, Baldia and other areas of Karachi where literacy rates are low, as well as different districts across the country where teachers themselves are discouraging vaccination.
In the Keamari, Central, South and Malir districts of Karachi, health workers said that less than 10 per cent of eligible girls could be vaccinated due to refusals from parents. There were also accounts of data manipulation, as some teams feared blowback for poor coverage, claiming that communities, parents and school administrations showed extreme hesitation and openly resisted the drive.
Many schools sent consent forms to parents but were advised not to allow vaccination, while some parents warned that they would withdraw their children from schools if the vaccine was administered.
Hammad Hussain, owner of a group of schools in Baldia Town, said that 99 per cent of parents refused to get their daughters vaccinated against HPV. A former official of the Sindh Expanded Programme on Immunisation, who requested anonymity, also confirmed that during visits to schools in District Central, he witnessed parents directing school administrations not to permit HPV vaccination.
The administration of a leading school, the Usman Public School, had issued a notice to parents stating that on behalf of the Ministry of Health, the HPV vaccine would be administered to female students aged 9-14 years.
Parents were asked to sign consent forms, or provide a separate application if they wished to arrange the vaccination privately. Reports of refusals were not limited to Karachi. Similar cases were documented in Punjab, including Lahore, Rawalpindi and smaller towns, where parents declined vaccination due to widespread misconceptions being propagated on social media.
Officials involved in the vaccination drive blamed the education departments for their failure to back the drive, saying that only notifications and circulars asking school administrations to ensure 100 per cent vaccination were issued but no concrete measures were taken to support the health department officials.
In Sindh, the government launched its first-ever province-wide HPV vaccination campaign on September 15, with the target of vaccinating millions of girls aged 9-14 against the virus that causes cervical cancer.
The drive was rolled out through schools, madrasas, fixed immunisation centres and outreach teams, but coverage has remained far below target in many districts due to parental hesitancy.
Despite repeated attempts, the Federal Directorate of Immunisation in Islamabad and the Sindh Health Department refused to comment on the issue, with no version provided by either until the filing of this report.