THE Department of Public Health is launching a vaccination campaign targeting close to 2,000 high school girls this October to help reduce the number of cervical cancer deaths in the CNMI, said department officials at a press conference yesterday.
Entitled, “So what are you going to do?” the campaign hopes to empower young women, ages 11-18 years old, to take charge of their health and help prevent cervical cancer fromdestroying families.
More than half of cervical cases in the CNMI in the last ten years involves women under 44 years old, a time when mothers are still raising their children.
“Cervical cancer is killing our women and it has to stop,” said Public Health Secretary Kevin Villagomez. “We learned of this grant from the Center of Disease Control and the Immunization Program that will make the HPV vaccine available for our young women.”
The vaccine called Gardisil, developed by pharmaceutical giant Merck, targets the four major human papillomavirus or HPV strains that cause over 70 percent of cervical cancer.
The vaccine was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration as safe.
Public Health started vaccinating in May and have given over 1,000 first doses with no reported serious side effects or injuries.
“If we succeed in vaccinating the 1,759 private and public high school students with all three doses, we could prevent up to 50 cases of cervical cancer. With ten new cases diagnosed every year in the CNMI, that’s six years worth of cases and many lives saved,” said Public Health Medical Director Dr. Richard Brostrom.
The HPV vaccine is given in three doses with the second shot given after two months and third shot after four months, giving the HPV Vaccine Campaign Committee up to next May to give the doses to all CNMI high school female students.
“This is why there was a sense of urgency about starting the campaign in October so we can have as many of our high school students as possible complete their vaccinations before they graduate,” said Commonwealth Cancer Association president Dr. Jack Hardy.
CCA, along with the Public School System, private high schools, CHC Volunteers and Stellar Marianas are collaborating with Public Health in the HPV Vaccination Campaign Committee.
Led by Public Health program analyst Roxanne Diaz, the committee will begin distributing the Power Packs, an informational kit with the consent forms, next week and start the vaccination schedule at the high schools on Oct. 5.
“This is going to be an educational process. Earlier, we did presentations at the schools and met with parents, students and teachers to create a better understanding and awareness of how important this is for our young women,” said Diaz. “We appreciate the support we are receiving from our collaborators and the community. Together, we can fight cervical cancer.”
As an additional incentive, says committee member and nurse Carol Paez, female high school students who turn in the required consent form for the vaccinations will receive a hand-crafted bracelet with three charms, one to be given after each dose.
They will also receive a special edition “So what are you going to do?” t-shirt on their second shot. A teen dance is also being planned with CCA and Stellar Marianas organizing the event.
“This is a way for us to say thank you to the young women for taking this step to fight cervical cancer and availing themselves of a tremendous health benefit with the vaccines,” said Paez.
The second phase of the campaign with the slogan “So here is what you are going to do” will begin next week encouraging parents to sign the consent forms and students to check their high schools for vaccination schedules.
The schools who have confirmed their vaccination schedules for October are Northern Marianas Academy on the 5th, Marianas High School on the 11th, Kagman High School on the12th, Rota High School on the 13th, Saipan Southern High on the 15th and Saipan International School on the16th.
Women from 19 to 26 years old can receive the HPV vaccinations at the Southern DPH clinic as well as private clinics. The charged for all three doses is $400.
The CDC grant only allows young women, students or not, from the ages of 9-18 years old to get the free vaccinations.
“The CNMI is saving over $1M because of this grant and parents should take advantage of it. This is a huge benefit, but what is more invaluable, is saving lives,” said Villagomez.
For more information, contact Roxanne Diaz at 236-8703 or -8712.
