2023-12-13 15:16:17
Since October, middle school students, both girls and boys, can be vaccinated once morest human papillomavirus (HPV) infections directly in establishments. The government had set a target of 30% of students vaccinated by the end of the year.
The vaccination of 5th grade middle school students once morest the papillomavirus “is not as high as we would like”, declared this Wednesday, December 13, the Minister of Health, while welcoming “a first step” at the end of which should be vaccinated some 150,000 students.
“We are not as high as we would like. But we will undoubtedly have 100,000-150,000 5th grade students – probably more because many will have been vaccinated in the city – who would not have been vaccinated last year And that means that they will not have cancer in 20-30 years,” said Aurélien Rousseau.
30% target
The objective set by the government in September was 30% of secondary school students vaccinated for the first edition of this campaign.
“If we are at 100,000, 150,000 or 200,000, we will give the figures. It’s 100,000, 150,000 or 200,000 that we didn’t have last year, so it’s a first step. I have no difficulty to recognize that there are things to adapt (…). But I think that the objective of 150,000 that we had set ourselves, we will be there,” estimated the minister.
Aurélien Rousseau, however, recognized in November that this campaign was “heterogeneous”. “It is “rather the CSP+ who respond favorably”, “we have to find the words to convince”, he indicated.
“Bringing vaccination back to school takes time,” said Agnès Firmin Le Bodo, Minister for Health Professions.
According to information from France Inter, less than one in ten schoolchildren has received the first of the two injections necessary for vaccination once morest the papillomavirus. Of the 632,000 5th grade students in French public middle schools, 61,400 have been vaccinated since the start of the school year.
Figures exclude community medicine and private education
The government has launched a vaccination campaign for 5th grade students but all girls and boys aged 11 to 14 are affected. Although this vaccination is widespread and free, it is not compulsory and requires parental consent.
The figures revealed this Tuesday do not include young people who were vaccinated by a city doctor, while the Ministry of Health hopes that the campaign organized in schools will result in an increase in injections in the city.
Furthermore, according to National Education data, France has some 800,000 students in 5th grade (public and private under contract). However, with regard to private colleges, only voluntary establishments can participate.
At the end of October, the general secretariat of Catholic education recommended to Catholic colleges under contract to “suspend” this campaign, for “precautionary reasons” following the death of a schoolboy, victim of a fall following post- vaccine. After this tragedy, however, the health authorities wanted to reassure, recalling that the vaccine is safe.
6,400 new cases of cancer
Human papillomaviruses, sexually transmitted viruses, are responsible for 6,400 new cases of cancer each year. The vaccine protects once morest nine types of human papillomavirus, notably responsible for 90% of cervical cancers, 80% of anal cancers and 90% of anogenital warts.
In France, vaccination once morest HPV has been recommended for girls aged 11 to 14 since 2007, and for boys of the same age since 2021. It requires two doses: a first during the first trimester, the second will take place from April to June 2024.
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