National School Principals in Colombo do not support the programme to give the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine for schoolgirls, Health Promotion Bureau Director Dr. Paba Palihawadana complained.
The HPV vaccine, which gives protection from cervical cancer was introduced to the National Immunization Programme in 2017.
“Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in females in Sri Lanka. The first is breast cancer,” Dr. Palihawadana said.
Dr. Palihawadana was addressing a press conference to mark ‘World Cancer Day 2019’ at the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) yesterday.
She said the Principals of National Schools in Colombo were hesitating to support the HPV vaccine programme in their respective schools. She requested the parents to come forward to change the prevailing situation.
“The vaccine is given to girls who are over 11 years of age. I encourage the parents to vaccinate the girls above Grade 6 against HPV,” she said.
Health Services Deputy Director General Consultant Dr.Sudath Samaraweera also regretted that the schools girls have deprived of the opportunity to get vaccinated against the HPV due to the dominance of a few school principals in Colombo.
Dr.Samaraweera said the breast cancer, oral cancer and cervical cancer are the top three cancer types in Sri Lanka according to the statistics. He said one third of cancers could be prevented by vaccines and another one third could be cured if detected early. He said smoking, alcohol consumption, wrong food patterns and physical inactivity are some key causes for cancer.
Dr.Samaraweera also commended the community movements in some areas to prohibit the sale of tobacco in their villages to declare them free from tobacco.
Consultant Community Physician Dr Suraj Perera said 29,843 new cancer patients had been registered in 2018, adding that the figures of last 11 years show that there is a certain increase of the incidence of cancers in Sri Lanka. He added 28,931 new cancer patients had been registered in 2017, and this figure was 29,457 in 2016 and 28,474 in 2015. He however said the multiple registrations have not been deleted and therefore the real figures could slightly differ from the above statistics.
He said the aging population in Sri Lanka was also a reason for the increase of cancer incidence. “The rest of the world is also experiencing a similar situation, but some of them have been successful in reducing the cancer deaths. In our case, the number of cancer deaths had also risen,” he commented.