The first group of 200 female students were vaccinated for HPV at Plookpanya School in Phuket Town on Wednesday (Nov 8), as PPHO Chief Dr Kusak Kukkiattikoon launched the local campaign under the banner ‘Save our School Children’.
HPV is the name given for a very common group of viruses. They do not cause any problems in most people, but some types can cause genital warts or cancer, explains the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK.
HPV affects the skin. There are more than 100 different types, the NHS adds.
“Many types of HPV affect the mouth, throat or genital area. They’re easy to catch. You do not need to have penetrative sex. You can get HPV from:any skin-to-skin contact of the genital area… HPV has no symptoms, so you may not know if you have it,” the UK health agency notes.
“You do not have to have sexual contact with a lot of people to get HPV. You can get HPV the first time you have sex,” the NHS warns.
The HPV vaccination campaign “kick off” across Thailand on Wednesday was under the theme, “Knowledge, prevention, early detection and treatment. Safe from cancer”, explained Dr Kusak.
At the event on Wednesday, joined by Phuket Town Deputy Mayor Supachoke La-ongphet, the national “Comprehensive Cancer” policy aimed to vaccinate women in Phuket between the ages of 11 and 20 years old.
“Cancer is an important public health problem in Thailand. and is likely to increase. In particular, cervical cancer is the second most common disease in Thai women under 45 years of age,” Dr Kusak explained.
“In the past five years, approximately 6,500 new cases were found per year [nationwide], with 2,000 deaths per year,” he added.
“In Phuket, from 2018 -2022, we found an average of 10 cervical cancer patients per year. The cause is the Human Papilloma Virus, or HPV, through direct contact or sexual intercourse,” Dr Kusak explained.
“It can be prevented with the HPV vaccine, which is effective in preventing cervical cancer in people who have not yet been infected,” he added.
The HPV vaccine was 93-95% effective in preventing transmissions, he said.
“Thailand has had a nationwide policy to provide HPV vaccination to female students in Grade 5, or when they are 11 years old, since 2017, but has faced a global shortage of HPV vaccines in recent years,” Dr Kusak explained.
“This affected our ability to procure the HPV vaccine to cover the target group. From 2019-2022, Phuket Province was able to provide the first dose of HPV vaccine to a total of 3,456 students,” he said.
In 2023, the Ministry of Public Health has a plan to accelerate HPV vaccination among women between the ages of 11-20 years old, both within and outside the education system, Dr Kusak said.
“Under the Quick Win 100 Days ‘Comprehensive Cancer’ policy, the goal is to administer 1 million doses of HPV vaccination within 100 days,” he added.
Meanwhile, the PPHO has announced that the Department of Health, under the Ministry of Public Health, has launched its official ‘TEEN CLUB’ Line group as a channel of communication to enhance health literacy and reproductive health among youths.
The Line group is to “provide correct knowledge and understanding about sexuality education and solve the problem of unplanned pregnancy”, said the announcement.
“Based on confidentiality and privacy, TEEN CLUB will be a center for various knowledge that teenagers are curious about but don’t dare ask anyone about,” the PPHO said.
“It also makes it easier to access birth control services. You can check your rights to receive birth control services, search for birth control services, and there is a menstrual recording feature to help check your menstrual cycle,” the PPHO added.
TEEN CLUB also has a hotline service 1663 and a chat bot to answer questions especially for teenagers. People can join the LINE ‘TEEN CLUB’ at https://line.me/R/ti/p/@teen_club