Packed schoolyards and bustling clinics across Punjab, Sindh, Islamabad, and Azad Jammu & Kashmir have become the unlikely front lines in Pakistan’s latest fight against a silent killer: cervical cancer. From September 15 to 27, 2025, the government rolled out its first-ever nationwide Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccination campaign, targeting girls aged 9 to 14. This bold initiative—heralded by health officials as a public health milestone—aims to protect a generation of Pakistani women from a virus that can cause not only cervical cancer, but also vulvar, vaginal, anal, and even head and neck cancers.
According to DW, the campaign aligns Pakistan with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) global strategy to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health threat by 2030. It’s a move that brings Pakistan in step with around 150 countries worldwide, including all major Muslim-majority nations. In fact, Pakistan is now the last country in South Asia (excluding Afghanistan) to include the HPV vaccine in its routine immunization program—a fact not lost on health experts and policymakers.
But the road to this milestone has been anything but smooth. Almost as soon as the campaign began, a wave of misinformation, conspiracy theories, and outright falsehoods swept across social media. As DW reports, viral TikTok and Instagram videos—some even featuring AI-generated news anchors—falsely claimed the vaccine causes serious side effects or infertility. One widely circulated clip featured a man asserting, “The problem is that the HPV vaccine can be causing serious adverse reactions,” followed by an AI anchor claiming, “An American doctor has raised concerns about giving HPV vaccine to young girls,” and then falsely stating that vaccines have never prevented a single case of cervical cancer.
Fact-checking by DW and international health agencies quickly debunked these claims. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and Germany’s Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) have found no evidence of severe side effects. A 2024 study involving nearly 3.5 million people confirmed the vaccine’s effectiveness in reducing HPV infections and precancerous lesions. Dr. Mohammad Ahmad Abdullah of Pakistan’s Health Services Academy told DW, “There is no connection, based on scientific research, between the HPV vaccine and infertility or reduced ability to conceive.”
Despite this scientific consensus, some local politicians have added fuel to the fire. Rashid Mehmood Soomro, a member of the ultra-conservative Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) party, publicly claimed the vaccine causes infertility—a claim that remains unproven and is contradicted by peer-reviewed research and the WHO’s Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety. A viral video showing girls fainting after vaccination was also misrepresented; as DW found, the footage actually depicted students affected by tear gas during a protest in May 2024, not any vaccination side effect.
Why all this uproar? Pakistan’s history of vaccine mistrust runs deep. In 2019, rumors about polio vaccines led to attacks on health workers. The infamous 2011 CIA operation that used a hepatitis B vaccination campaign as cover to hunt for Osama bin Laden left a legacy of suspicion. These scars have made it harder for officials to counter the new wave of HPV vaccine skepticism.
Yet, the need for action is urgent. Cervical cancer remains a major health problem in Pakistan. Official data suggest around 5,000 new cases are diagnosed annually, with over 3,000 deaths—though experts believe the real numbers are higher due to a lack of regular screening and a national cancer registry. Globally, more than 95% of the 660,000 cervical cancer cases each year are caused by HPV, and 90% of the resulting deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, according to Dawn and Daily Times. The interval between acquiring HPV and developing invasive cancer can be 15 to 20 years or more, and most infections are initially asymptomatic.
The science behind the vaccine is sound. Nobel Prize–winning research by Dr. Harald zur Hausen confirmed that HPV strains 16 and 18 are responsible for most cases of cervical cancer. Scientific evidence shows that the vaccine can reduce the risk of cervical cancer by up to 90% if administered to girls aged 9 to 14, before or at the start of their reproductive lives. As Daily Times notes, “The vaccine is most effective when given just before or at the start of the sexual and reproductive life of the girl.”
Pakistan is using Cecolin—a single-dose, WHO-prequalified vaccine manufactured in China and supplied through Gavi, the global vaccine alliance. This choice is significant: new data show that a single dose is as effective as two, making it easier to reach more girls and address previous global supply shortages. The vaccine has been deemed safe and effective by both the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and WHO, with only minor and rare side effects reported since its introduction in 2006.
Funding for this ambitious program is, for now, largely covered by international donors. Gavi finances 95% of the costs, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UNICEF, and the World Bank. Nearly $600 million has been committed toward the global fight against cervical cancer. But as Daily Times points out, “Pakistan will need to fund the program domestically over time.”
Health experts agree that including HPV vaccination in the national immunization program is a critical step—not just for cancer prevention but as part of a broader push to improve women’s health. Other priorities, such as tackling anemia, reducing maternal mortality, and improving breast cancer detection, are also on the agenda. The HPV vaccine, in particular, aligns with the WHO’s 2020 strategy that calls for immunizing young girls as a key element in eliminating cervical cancer.
In the face of skepticism, Pakistani officials have taken highly visible steps to build public trust. On September 20, Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal publicly vaccinated his own daughter against HPV in a televised event, hoping to reassure parents and counteract the tide of misinformation. “Each year, about 5,000 women in Pakistan are diagnosed with cervical cancer, and nearly 60% of them die from it,” he stated, echoing national HPV data and underscoring the stakes involved.
Pakistan’s HPV vaccine rollout is not just a story of scientific progress, but also one of social challenge and resilience. The country’s experience mirrors that of others, from Europe to Southeast Asia, where vaccine hesitancy and misinformation threaten to undermine public health gains. Yet, with determined leadership, international support, and a clear-eyed focus on science, Pakistan is taking decisive steps to protect its next generation from a preventable disease—despite the noise.
As the campaign concludes, the hope is that facts, not fear, will win out, and that thousands of Pakistani girls will grow up safer, healthier, and empowered to face a future less burdened by preventable cancers.
