In what may well prove to be a very controversial move, President Jacob Zuma has announced that as of this year, primary school girls will be immunised against a common sexually transmitted disease called the human papillomavirus (HPV).
According to Zuma, government will target girls aged between nine and 12 years of age, through the Integrated School Health Programme.
HPV is likely the most common sexually transmitted disease in the world with doctors estimating that nearly every sexually active person has had the disease at some point or another.
More than 120 strains of the disease has been identified and are referred to by number.
Some of the HPV strains are known to cause serious health problems including several cancers, genital warts, and warts in the throat.
HPV types 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 68, 73 and 82 are high-risk sexually transmitted diseases and may lead to the development of cervical cancer in women, various other genital cancers in both men and women, and a type of head and neck cancer called oropharyngeal cancer, which is a cancer in the back of throat, including the base of the tongue and tonsils.
Cervical cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in women in South Africa.
According to local youth activist and counsellor Jan Jacobs who works with many children in schools across Randfontein, this is yet another example of the South African government’s inability to deal with problems among the youth effectively.
“I find it ridiculous that they want to immunise girls from as young as nine,” says Jacobs.
“Not once have I come across a case of a nine-year-old girl willingly engaging in sexual activity in Randfontein.
“Statistics prove that only a minuscule percentage of girls at the age of nine in Gauteng has ever had sexual intercourse, and even fewer willingly.
“While I agree that cervical cancer is a serious health threat to women in South Africa, and that HPV-related health issues should be dealt with as a matter of urgency, I feel that the government should consider the statistics before deciding on an appropriate age at which girls should receive the immunisation.”
Jacobs says that girls aged from 12 and up would be a more appropriate age group to immunise.
“I feel that immunising girls at such a young age is ridiculous,” says Jacobs.
“They might as well start handing out condoms to nine-year-old girls and telling them to engage in safe sex.”
