Scaling up cervical cancer prevention activities

THE general public greatly fears the possibility of falling ill. When someone becomes sick, it not only affects the patient but also causes both emotional and physical strain for the entire family and everyone involved. They also face financial bur­dens. Meanwhile, medical professionals become busier and more exhausted due to the increased workload.

 

In Myanmar society, there are generally said that there are 96 types of illnesses. Anyone can be affected by some form of disease; it’s only that symptoms may not yet appear when the illness is still in an early stage. Once a disease develops, it takes time to recover. The patient must endure the suffering pa­tiently. For full recovery, three parties must work together in harmony — the patient who endures the illness, the one who bears the financial cost, and the medical practitioner who provides treatment.

 

Among all diseases, can­cer is one that everyone fears. Around the world, medicines that can prevent cancer have now been developed. How­ever, cervical cancer, which commonly occurs in women, can be prevented in advance through vaccination, helping reduce its incidence rate. Cer­vical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among wom­en worldwide and the third most common cancer among women living in developing countries.

 

Some 70 per cent of all cervical cancer cases are caused by infection with HPV types 16 and 18. In Myanmar, the currently administered cervical cancer vaccine pro­tects against four HPV types — 6, 11, 16, and 18. In the school-based cervical cancer vaccination programme, vaccination coverage reached 90 per cent, marking a successful implementation. Starting from early December 2025, a community-based cervical cancer vaccination programme will be carried out to intensify vaccination efforts for girls aged 9 to 11 who are not enrolled in school.

 

Moreover, the vaccination campaign will be expanded in August and September 2026 to include girls aged 9 to 18 years, under the HPV Multi-Age Cohorts Vaccination (HPV MAC) pro­gramme. The cervical cancer vaccines currently administered in Myanmar are being supported by the GAVI Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), and the government will continue to co-finance the procurement and distribution of these vaccines under this arrangement.

 

If vaccinated against cervical cancer, the infection rate of the human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes cervical cancer, can be reduced by 83 per cent among girls aged 13 to 19 years, and the incidence of early-stage cervical cancer among girls aged 15 to 19 years can be reduced by up to 31 per cent.