The initial rollout of a vaccine to protect Pakistani girls from cervical cancer was marred by misinformation, with parents rejecting healthcare workers and schools closing due to false claims of infertility risks.
The first HPV vaccine campaign in the country aimed to reach 11 million girls. However, by its conclusion on Saturday, only about half of the planned doses were administered.
A persistent conspiracy theory alleging that Western vaccines are designed to control the Muslim population has been spreading online in Pakistan.
There is also misinformation that the vaccine affects the hormones of young girls and promotes sexual activity in a culture where premarital sex is prohibited.
“Some individuals have refused, locked their gates, and even concealed their daughters’ ages,” vaccinator Ambreen Zehra reported to AFP while conducting door-to-door visits in a lower-middle-income area of Karachi.
Nearly half of the intended vaccines were administered, as noted by a federal health department official who spoke to AFP anonymously.
“Many girls we aimed to vaccinate are still unprotected, but we are committed to making the vaccine available beyond the campaign so more women and girls can receive it,” the official stated on Friday.
A teacher, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that no vaccines were administered at her school near Rawalpindi, as parents withheld consent, a situation reported by other rural schools as well.
A health official, requesting anonymity, revealed some private schools had temporarily closed to avoid vaccine workers.
“On the first day, we achieved 29% of our target, which was not ideal, but acceptable,” said Syeda Rashida Batool, Islamabad’s chief health official, who initiated the campaign by vaccinating her daughter.
“That evening, videos began circulating online, causing a decline. Everything changed after that.”
An old video showing schoolgirls in pain due to teargas from a past protest was reshared online, misleadingly linked to the vaccine’s side effects.
Rashid Mehmood Soomro, a prominent leader of a right-wing religious party, claimed last week that the voluntary vaccine was being imposed on girls by the government.
“In truth, our daughters are being rendered infertile,” he proclaimed at a rally in Karachi.
‘Controlling the Population’
In 95% of cases, cervical cancer is caused by persistent Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection, a virus transmitted through sexual activities, affecting nearly everyone at some point.
The HPV vaccine, endorsed by the World Health Organization, offers safe, scientifically-backed protection against cervical cancer and has saved lives in over 150 countries.
Cervical cancer is notably deadly in low and middle-income countries like Pakistan, where UNICEF reports two-thirds of the annual 5,000 diagnoses result in death, though the figure may be under-reported.
This is due to a lack of awareness about the disease, cultural taboos on sexual health, and inadequate screening and treatment services.
The harmful belief that only women with multiple sexual partners contract sexually transmitted infections persists.
In Europe, where the HPV vaccine has been highly successful, around 30,000 diagnoses occurred across all 27 EU nations in 2020, with about one-third resulting in death, according to the European Commission.
“My husband won’t permit it,” stated Maryam Bibi, a 30-year-old mother in Karachi, explaining why her three daughters remain unvaccinated.
“It’s said this vaccine causes infertility, controlling the population.”
Humna Saleem, a 42-year-old housewife in Lahore, deemed the vaccine “unnecessary.”
“All cancers are dreadful. Why not advise boys to remain loyal to their wives rather than urging girls to get more vaccines?” she told AFP.
Pakistan, along with Afghanistan, remains one of the last countries where polio is endemic, largely due to misinformation and conspiracy theories.
Despite recording its first polio-free year in 2023, the debilitating disease re-emerged, with 27 cases documented in 2025 so far.
Addressing the rampant misinformation on the HPV vaccine, Pakistan’s Health Minister, Syed Mustafa Kamal, publicly vaccinated his teenage daughter on television.
“In my 30-year political career, I’ve never publicized my family,” he told reporters. “But as my daughter is dear to me, so are the nation’s daughters, prompting me to bring her before the media.”
