Under the project sponsored by the non-profit international health organization PATH, girls from several districts in central Thanh Hoa Province and the Mekong Delta’s Can Tho City will be given three shots of Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.

The vaccine series costs around US$300.

The project is scheduled to begin this week, with inoculations conducted at local health centers and schools. It marks a significant step to introduce the vaccine into Vietnam’s Expanded Program on Immunization after 2010, NIHE Head Nguyen Tran Hien said.

The program currently offers 10 vaccines, including measles and hepatitis B.

HPV vaccine prevents infection of certain species of HPV associated with the development of cervical cancer and genital warts.

Cervical cancer is one of the leading cancer-related causes of death in Vietnam, according to the Ministry of Health. It is estimated that 17 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and nine die from the disease every day.

Worldwide there are an estimated 470,000 new cases of cervical cancer that result in 233,000 deaths per year,

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in July.

Established in Vietnam in the early 1980s, PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology in Health) works in many fields, including maternal and newborn health, child survival, immunization, reproductive health, HIV and AIDS, and tuberculosis.

With an office in Hanoi since 1997, PATH has completed more than 35 projects in Vietnam to date.

Source: VNA, SGGP