The HPV vaccination protects against six types of cancer caused by the Human Papillomavirus: cervical cancer, vaginal cancer, labia cancer, penile cancer, anus cancer and cancer of the mouth and throat. The vaccination has recently also been offered to boys.
Cervical Cancer Population Screening
Pathologist Folkert van Kemenade sees where incorrect information about the HPV vaccination leads. The vaccination rate for HPV lags considerably behind that of neighboring countries. As a pathologist he has been associated with the Cervical Cancer Population Screening for many years. “To reduce the number of cervical cancers to 4 per 100,000 women, as the WHO wants, we need a 90 percent vaccination rate.”
Vaccine
Vaccination rates now fluctuate around 63 percent nationwide. In the large cities, that percentage is much lower. Why don’t girls take a vaccine? “Disinformation, doubts about safety and efficacy, peer pressure, wrong assumptions by parents that their daughter would not need this given the association with sex”, Van Kemenade sums up. “In the beginning, social media had free rein, there appeared the most blatant nonsense about the vaccine.”
Doubt Phone
The Vaccination Doubt Phone has continued as Doubt Phone since March 2022. The Doubt Phone will be a prevention platform where people can ask questions about medical issues. Callers could already ask questions about early detection of colon cancer. Questions about COVID vaccinations and early detection of colon cancer are of course also welcome.
“We want to reduce health differences in the big city with the Twijfeltelefoon,” says Robin Peeters, internist at Erasmus MC and co-initiator of the Twijfeltelefoon. “The following applies to HPV vaccination and corona vaccination as well as to the bowel cancer population screening: people can choose for themselves whether they want it, but I would like them to make their choice based on correct information. A lot of disinformation is currently circulating. colon cancer, as about COVID vaccination as about HPV vaccination.”
Trained medical students
The Doubt Phone was initially set up by Erasmus MC, and has since become a partnership of university medical centers and general practitioners. The line is available Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 1pm. The lines are staffed by trained medical students. There are Turkish-speaking students on Wednesdays, Arabic-speaking students on Fridays. The phone number is 088-7555777.
By: National Education Guide