"HPV immunization has been confirmed to be safe and generally does not cause serious reactions after immunization," Ministry of Health spokesperson Mohammad Syahril noted in a statement in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Syahril emphasized that HPV immunization aims to prevent cervical cancer caused by HPV infection, and its success can even reach 100 percent if two doses are given to girls aged 9-13 years.
He also noted that the reaction at the injection area, such as redness, swelling, and mild pain, will occur one day after immunization and can last for one to three days.
"Common reactions, such as fever, can also appear after immunization," Syahril remarked.
He emphasized that Indonesia's commitment to preventing cervical cancer is proven by the inclusion of HPV immunization in the National Immunization Program starting in 2023.
"Currently, there are 135 countries that provide HPV immunization in their national immunization programs and among them are Malaysia, Singapore, America, England, and France," he stated.
Related news: Health Ministry plans to expand national HPV immunization coverage
In line with this, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin believes that faster intervention is necessary, so that the results of examination can be known immediately and followed by treatment suitable to the diagnosis through one way being by changing the testing standards to accelerate the detection of cervical cancer stages in women.
"Therefore, the first thing that must be done is prevention. Because (prevention) is cheaper and makes the quality of life much better. Hence, we must be able to detect cancer as early as possible," the minister remarked.
HPV immunization is administered in two doses to girls before graduating from elementary school and is given during School Immunization Month (BIAS) every August at school.
Data released by Globocan shows that the total number of cancer cases in Indonesia in 2020 had reached 396,914, with a total of 234,511 deaths. From this figure, around 36,633 cases of cervical cancer had been found, or 9.2 percent of the total cancer cases.
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Translator: Yoanita Hastryka Djohan
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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