By Sharmain GraingerIt was a troubling rate of cervical cancer in our country that reportedly prompted the local public health sector to introduce what could perhaps be dubbed its most controversial vaccination programme yet. I draw attention here to the vaccine programme against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV). HPV is a viral infection that has been found to cause cervical cancer.In fact the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has concluded that HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection that can be spread from one person to another through vaginal, anal, or oral sex or through other close skin-to-skin touching during sexual activities. There are also reports that suggest that even the use of a condom may not safeguard against this infection, since it has been found to infect skin not normally protected by a condom.While it is believed that many people do become infected with HPV but are fortunately left unscathed, there are others, mainly young people, according to CDC, who can suffer dire outcomes. Women can develop not only cervical cancer, but CDC has revealed that they can also develop vaginal and vulvar cancers,NFL Jerseys Wholesale, while both males and females could develop anal cancer and even genital warts.Recognising the disconcerting potential of HPV,cheap jerseys from china, the local health ministry understandably started to strategise against it.After much talk about tackling the virus and by extension cervical cancer among others, the HPV vaccination programme was officially introduced in January of 2012. This bold move was conceptualised a few years earlier by then Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, but officially launched under his successor, Dr. Bheri Ramsaran. It was reportedly seen as the practical answer to address a spate of cervical cancer that reportedly positioned Guyana as the country with the third highest rate of the disease.While there are number of known strains of the virus, Guyana chose to combat at least four strains with the use of a vaccine called Gardasil. There are said to be about 40 strains of the HPV, with Gardasil being capable of warding off strains six,Cheap Jerseys USA, 11, 16 and 18.The targets for the vaccine were young girls between the ages of 11 and 13. This was due to the belief that once vaccinated before sexual debut, a young girl is less likely to be infected and transmit HPV to her partner later in life. Dr. Ramsammy had suggested the possibility of the vaccine being administered to young boys too.Although the introduction of the vaccination programme with girls as the target was deemed a success by the Ministry of Health, it wasn’t embraced by all. In fact, as soon as word of Gardasil got out to the public, a small group of concerned women decided that they needed to protest. The intent of the reaction was to emphasise that the negativity associated with the vaccine outweighed its positivity.There are reports that suggest that the vaccine could not only cause a young girl’s menstrual cycle to begin early, but it could also cause them to become infertile, and even worse outcomes have been reported on.I remember covering a few of the protest actions which were strategically conducted outside of the Ministry of Health’s Brickdam,Cheap NBA Jerseys China, Georgetown headquarters. In my opinion, what seemed to bother the women the most was their belief that enough sensitisation about HPV and the vaccine was not done.Even in the National Assembly the programme was receiving its fair share of flak from members of the opposition benches. Interesting to note is that among the critics then was now Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton.He, too, had contended that public education was not sufficient and even echoed concerns that the vaccine was unnecessary and could be dangerous to life,Cheap Jerseys China, and that the Ministry should promote preventative measures that take into account nutrition and socioeconomic conditions and lifestyles.But the Ministry was not prepared to validate these concerns and, with backing from the reputable Pan American Health Organization /World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO),Wholesale Jerseys China, expanded its HPV vaccination campaign by taking it to a number of schools. This, however, did not mean that the programme was not fraught with challenges such as parents refusing to let their young daughters take the vaccine, and issues with procurement, which eventually led to it being stalled for awhile.However, a new year has arrived and HPV still remains a staple of the public health sector’s general vaccine programme. Criticisms have quieted to a few occasional whispe