UNFPA, US pharma firm partner to roll out HPV vaccination in Vietnam

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the US-based pharmaceutical company Merc Sharp & Dohme (MSD) will join hands to support the Ministry of Health to roll out the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme in Vietnam from 2019 – 2021.

Wednesday, July 24, 2019 15:49

UNFPA, US pharma firm partner to roll out HPV vaccination in Vietnam ảnh 1

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the US-based pharmaceutical company Merc Sharp & Dohme (MSD) will join hands to support the roll-out of the HPV vaccination programme in Vietnam from 2019 – 2021. (Photo: UNFPA)

Hanoi (VNA) – TheUnited Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the US-based pharmaceutical companyMerc Sharp & Dohme (MSD) will join hands to support the Ministry of Health to roll out the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme in Vietnam from 2019 – 2021.

An agreement to this effect was signed between the two sides in Hanoi on July 24.

Addressing the signingceremony, Deputy Director of the General Department of Preventive MedicineNguyen Minh Hang said vaccination is an effective and popular measure to prevent infectious diseases. Thanks to vaccines andthe national expanded immunization programme, many dangerous epidemics areeliminated or controlled, she noted.

“Evidence from international studies also confirms that a strategiccombination of sufficient coverage of HPV vaccination for adolescent girls andsufficient coverage of cervical screening and appropriate treatment for allwomen can eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem within ourlifetime,” said Astrid Bant, UNFPA Representative in Vietnam.

MSD Vietnam ChiefRepresentative Koen Carel Kruijtbosch said developing vaccines that helpprotect public health is more than a business decision, it is a sharedmission. Every day in Vietnam, seven women die fromcervical cancer. This partnership between the UNFPA and the MSD hopes to address this disease burden, he added.

With a total budget of400,000 USD, the collaboration aims to conductevidence-based advocacy to encourage national and sub-national stakeholders toreduce the burden of HPV-related diseases and facilitate the gradualscale up of an HPV vaccination programme and the development of policies toprevent cervical cancer.

Cervical cancer remains amajor killer of women. Caused by HPV,cervical cancer claims the lives of more than 300,000 women every year, ofwhich 85 percent live in developing countries, according to the World HealthOrganisation. –VNA

VNA

#UNFPA #Merc Sharp & Dohme #MSD #Ministry of Health #human papillomavirus #HPV #HPV vaccination #Cervical cancer #Vietnam #Vietnam News #Vietnam News Agency #Vietnamplus

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