15,000 Moldovan girls of 10 years old will be optionally injected with Quadrivalent Human Popillomavirus Vaccine (HPV). The Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection launched HPV vaccination campaign for the GAVI program for 2017-2018, held nationally since December 2017.

This action will provide the opportunity to protect adolescent girls against cervical cancer, which is the most prevalent type of cancer caused by HPV. For the vaccine to be maximized, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends prioritizing the vaccination of girls between the ages of 9 and 14, until the onset of sexual intercourse.

The full vaccination course consists of two doses of vaccine with at least 6 months apart. Girls born in 2007, who will not be able to initiate vaccination in December 2017, will be able to inject the first vaccine dose in early 2018.

The second vaccine dose will be administered starting in June 2018.

In April-May 2018, vaccination with the first dose of Gardasil vaccine for girls born in 2008 will be initiated, with the second dose to be included in October-November 2018.

"Prevention of cervical cancer is a stringent priority on the Government's agenda and we have undertaken the implementation of the anti-HPV vaccination program, which is absolutely necessary, due to the high number of illnesses and deaths in our country. Study on cost-effectiveness estimates that once the 90% vaccination rate has been reached, we will save 98 people each year and save for the treatment of cervical cancer, "said Minister of Health, Labor and Social Protection Stela Grigoraş .

Haris Hajrulahovic, WHO representative in the Republic of Moldova, said: "The WHO recognizes that the problem of cervical cancer and other HPV-related diseases is a global public health issue and reiterates its recommendation on the introduction of the HPV vaccine into national immunization programs. I'm sure that this effort will help us save thousands of women's lives tomorrow."

Until licensed and distributed on the market, vaccines have been tested for approximately 15 years in major clinical trials. The anti-HPV vaccine has been introduced into the schedule of routine immunizations for girls in 74 countries (including 33 countries in the WHO European Region).

As a result, the number of cases of uterine cancer in these countries has been drastically reduced, and the WHO anti-HPV vaccine has been declared by the WHO as the most effective and modern measure to reduce cervical cancer risk along with screening.

In the Republic of Moldova, in 2010-2016, approximately 300 new cases of cervical cancer and about 170 deaths caused by this disease were recorded on an annual average. In our country because of cervical cancer on average dies a woman every 2 days.