Cervical cancer vaccine for schoolgirls
About 550 000 girls in Grade Four will receive the first dose this month.
The Department of Health said it will target girls who are not sexually active when it rolls out the Human Papilloma Virus vaccine next month.
Girls in all public primary schools will be vaccinated to prevent cervical cancer.
About 550 000 girls in Grade Four will receive the first dose this month and the second dose after six months.
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi announced during a media briefing in Parliament that statistics indicate that cervical cancer is the second biggest killer of women in the country after breast cancer.
HIV positive women are five times more likely to get cervical cancer. Motsoaledi says they are hoping for cervical cancer free generations.
Motsoaledi said they have selected the Grade Four pupils in every public school and in March they are going to launch a vaccination programme for them.
“This means that every year, any child in Grade 4 will be vaccined so that we have a new generation of women who are protected from cancer,” he said.
Motsoaledi said around 600 children are diagnosed with cancer in South Africa every year and experts have warned that this could just be the tip of the iceberg.
“Another disturbing statistic is that more than 40 percant of South African children with cancer never reach a specialist centre for treatment,” he said.
