Representatives of UNFPA and MSD sign a technical collaboration to support the Ministry of Health’s roll-out of HPV vaccination programme in Việt Nam from 2019 to 2021. — VNS Photo Thanh Hải

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the US-based pharmaceutical company Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) will support the Ministry of Health’s roll-out of (human papillomavirus) HPV vaccination programme in Việt Nam from 2019 to 2021 as part of a deal signed on Wednesday in Hà Nội.

With a total budget of US$400,000, the collaboration aims to conduct evidence-based advocacy to encourage national and sub-national stakeholders to reduce the burden of HPV-related diseases and facilitate the gradual scale up of an HPV vaccination programme and the development of policies to prevent cervical cancer.

“Developing vaccines that help protect public health is more than a business decision; it is a shared mission. Every day in Việt Nam seven women die from cervical cancer. This partnership between the UNFPA and MSD hopes to address this disease burden,” Koen Carel Kruijtbosch, Chief Representative, MSD in Việt Nam said.

"Evidence from international studies also confirm that a strategic combination of sufficient coverage of HPV vaccination for adolescent girls and sufficient coverage of cervical screening and appropriate treatment for all women can eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem within our lifetime," UNFPA representative in Việt Nam Astrid Bant said at the signing ceremony.

“No husband should lose a wife, no sibling should lose a sister, no parents should lose a daughter and no child should lose a mother. Claim this right because you are important,” added Bant.

Cervical cancer continues to be a major killer of women. Caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), cervical cancer claims the lives of more than 300,000 women every year, of which 85 per cent live in developing countries, according to the World Health Organisation.

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