Fernandinas get cervical cancer shots

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Some 500 Fernandina city health workers are on track to living a cancer-free life after getting cervical cancer vaccines Monday at City Hall.

The free vaccination, conducted in partnership with pharmaceutical giant Glaxo Smith Kline, marked the opening of Women's Week celebration in this city, which pays tribute to women here twice a year, the other during March, or Women's Month.

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The vaccine, costing P1,000 per shot, was subsidized by the City Government led by Mayor Oscar Rodriguez.

"With this vaccine, we are giving our beloved health front liners the best protection they can get against this disease," said Rodriguez, adding the tri-pillar partnership between the private, government and medical sector is a major breakthrough in the city's development agenda.

According to St. Luke's Medical Center OB-Gynecologist Soc Bernardino, cervical cancer is the second killer among women of all ages, next to breast cancer. She said with the vaccine, women are 80 percent protected from the virus that is mostly rooted from sexual contact.

Everyday, she said, 12 Filipinas suffer from cervical cancer, making it a cause of concern not just to women, but to their loved ones as well, male partners included.

It puts more than 27 million Filipina women at risk, and the vaccine provides significant protection for women against the two most common cancer-causing HPVs, which account for more than half of the cases in the country.

With the vaccination, women will get protection against 12 other cancer-causing HPV types which include HPV strain 45, a strain which prevalently causes a more severe form of cervical cancer among Filipinas.

"One shot provides around eight and a half years of protection," Bernardino added, noting that symptoms of cervical cancer include vaginal bleeding, erratic periods even during menopause, vaginal discharge and persistent pelvic pains.

While describing several strains of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18, Glaxo Smith Kline official Derick Singh said prevention is still the key to fighting cervical cancer as the pharmaceutical firm continues to develop and improve its anti-cancer vaccines.

"And this move by Mayor Rodriguez is laudable. The city is one of the few which is really focused on the drive to prevent cervical cancer," he said.

Rodriguez noted that such an action is considered as a "gift" that the City Government gives to women employees so that they need not worry of this fatal disease.

"Next to education, our health program is the priority agenda of the city," Rodriguez said, noting that aside from the cervical cancer vaccination, different health programs are implemented by the City Government.

Earlier, the city has launched free shots of anti-seasonal flu vaccine to the City Hall employees aside from the regular free medical services that include free pap smear to every Fernandina. (Jovi T. De Leon)