Vaccination program in PNG aiming to reduce cervical cancer rates

0:00Or for the first time, girls in Papua New Guinea will have access to the life-saving HPV vaccine. Developed in Australia, the vaccine has helped to put Australia on track to become the first country to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem. Now, a new immunisation programme in PNG aims to reduce cervical cancer rates, where it is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths among women. One of the bodies overseeing the rollout is Gavvy, the Vaccine Alliance. It's CEO Dr. Sanya Nishtar joins me now. Dr. Nishtar, welcome to Radio National Breakfast. Thank you very much for having me on your show and good morning. Why PNG? Why is it seen as somewhere that desperately needs this vaccine right now? Well, cervical cancer mortality is second-highest in PNGM and in the Western Pacific region. So the PNGHPV introduction is a major opportunity to protect girls from one of the country's deadliest cancers.

1:06And here in Australia, we've had very significant coverage after this vaccine was developed here. And the original science was kind of counter-intuitive and that was knocking out a virus to prevent this cancer. Yes, of course. And it's going to the aspiration is the same for PNG. This is a highly effective vaccine for every thousand girls vaccinated. 13 deaths are about it and 90% of cases of cervical cancer can be preventive with HPV vaccine. So we are really looking forward to it scale up in PNG. It's designed to reach girls through both routine immunization and catch up campaigns. And this really reflects a very strong collaboration between PNG, Australia, Gavi and partners. How important will trust be in education and communication for this vaccine campaign?

2:13Well, trust is very important for any vaccination campaign. So it's very important that the government and partners communicate effectively about what this vaccine is, what it prevents, and how critical it is for girls to be vaccinated. What are some of the challenges the logistical and other challenges you expect to face with this vaccine rollout in PNG? Particularly in some of the more remote areas. Well, more broadly logistical challenges in an island country like PNG are quite pervasive because there are parts of the country that can only be reached with, you know, that cannot be reached by land. You have to access them through helicopter. So those have those remain and are and continue to remain a huge challenge. And of course the government has to be and all of us as partners have to be very creative with how to approach this.

3:19How important is this rollout given what we've seen, we've seen some major aid cuts being made on the global stage? I think it's very important that we that this effort is adequately funded because as I mentioned the return on investment is very high with this vaccine. As I mentioned, you know, 13 deaths can be averted for 1000 girls vaccinated and 90% cases can be prevented. So this is a highly effective vaccine and we must ensure that the partners and PNG fund this properly because this is a partnership with this vaccine is going to be rolled out with co financing through co financing by the government itself. It's not just a gavi that is funding for it. You're listening to Radio National Breakfast and I'm speaking with Dr. Sanja Nishita from the vaccine alliance. If we're looking more broadly, Dr.

4:20with a general question, we've seen increased reports about vaccine hesitancy more broadly. How concerned do you about this right now? Well, vaccine hesitancy has been a growing problem and it has been accentuated particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic and of course the social media algorithms are such that a news of this kind is amplified. But there is another side of the coin as well because demand for vaccines continue to increase in the countries that we are that are in the gavi portfolio and then vaccine hesitancy varies from vaccine to vaccine. For instance, for the malaria vaccine, which is something that we partner with African countries around, there's the huge demand. The measles vaccine similarly has a very high demand because community see children dying after the after a rash.

5:26So it depends from vaccine to vaccine. It's highly nuanced. But it is a huge and growing problem and it's absolutely critical that governments and partners invest in the appropriate communication campaigns that bring to bear the value of vaccines and their life saving potential. Dr. Sanja Nishita, thank you for joining me this morning. Thank you.