In Conversation WITH Steve Mabona ( Dept of Health spokesperson)

The Gauteng Department of Health has launched its latest Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination Campaign, urging parents and caregivers to sign school consent forms so that eligible Grade 5 girls can receive a vaccine that could protect them from cervical cancer later in life. The campaign, which runs from 3 August to 9 October, will focus primarily on independent primary schools before vaccination teams return to public and special schools to reach learners who may have missed earlier rollouts. The vaccine is offered free of charge through the Integrated School Health Programme to Grade 5 girls aged nine years and older. This year’s campaign comes with an important development: a single dose of the HPV vaccine is now considered sufficient to provide long-term protection against the high-risk strains of HPV that cause most cervical cancers. HPV is one of the most common viral infections worldwide and is spread through skin-to-skin sexual contact. While most infections clear naturally, persistent infection with high-risk strains—particularly HPV 16 and 18—can lead to cervical cancer years later. According to the Gauteng Department of Health, the province vaccinated more than 72,000 girls in public schools during the previous rollout, achieving an 80% coverage rate. However, uptake in independent schools was significantly lower at just 37.7%, with thousands of learners missing out because consent forms were never returned, schools declined participation or misinformation fuelled vaccine hesitancy. Encouragingly, new research published in The Lancet Global Health found that South Africa’s school-based HPV vaccination programme reduced infections caused by HPV types 16 and 18 by 83% among young women, including those living with HIV. The findings reinforce what health experts have long argued—that high vaccination coverage can dramatically reduce future cases of cervical cancer. Instagram · Twitter