
Within the scope of the HPV Vaccination Application support launched by Ankara Metropolitan Municipality (ABB) in October, 1800 women received their first dose of vaccine.
The highest number of applications for the project, which aims to protect women and girls between the ages of 9 and 30 who receive social support against cervical cancer, came from the districts of Mamak, Keçiören and Çankaya.
Gazi University Infectious Diseases Department Faculty Member Prof. Dr. Esin Şenol evaluated the project as “a scientific success that will protect women and girls from cancer.”
Ankara Metropolitan Municipality continues to support public health with the HPV Vaccine Application, which it launched in October 2024. Within the scope of the support, the first dose of free HPV vaccine was administered to 9 women and girls between the ages of 30-1800 who received social support.
The highest number of applications for the project came from Mamak, Keçiören and Çankaya districts, respectively. Two doses of vaccine are administered to children under the age of 15, and three doses are administered to individuals over the age of 15, and the vaccines are recorded through the Ministry of Health's e-Pulse system.
The free vaccine support, implemented for the first time at the local government level in Turkey, has led other municipalities such as Istanbul, Izmir, Mersin and Muğla to initiate similar studies. Ankara Metropolitan Municipality will evaluate the project at the end of one year and decide on its continuation.
“IT SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE NATIONAL VACCINATION PROGRAM”
Mustafa Ünsal, Head of ABB Health Affairs Department, shared the following information about the project:
“We have vaccinated 1800 people with their first doses so far. The vaccine is administered in three doses. Children under the age of 15 are vaccinated with two doses. The project is a first in both local governments and public administration in Turkey. Our project has also inspired other metropolitan municipalities. Authorities from many municipalities and districts such as Istanbul, Izmir, Muğla, Aydın, Mersin, and Adana came here and examined the application on site.”
Ünsal emphasized that the HPV vaccine should be included in the national vaccination program and said, “We hope that the HPV vaccine will be included in the national vaccination program and will be covered by the Social Security Institution, just like the type-1 diabetes sensor and SMA test. Hopefully, we will achieve this.”
PROF. DR. ŞENOL: “WOMEN WILL NOT GET CANCER”
The project is being carried out in collaboration with Gazi University. Vaccination applications, medical records and side effect monitoring are being carried out with great care. Gazi University Infectious Diseases Department Faculty Member Prof. Dr. Esin Şenol evaluated the project as “a scientific success that will protect women and girls from cancer” and said the following:
“It was a comprehensive and beautiful project. The HPV vaccine is over 95 percent effective. This is amazing. 85 percent of adults in the world are exposed to HPV when they turn 35. We have made a vaccine that prevents 7 percent of a cancer that causes one woman to die every two minutes in the world, and in Turkey, 3 women are newly diagnosed and 95 women die every day. 270 million doses have been administered in the world to date. It has no disturbing side effects. We have applied a very effective and safe vaccine.”
Prof. Dr. Şenol stated that the majority of the participants in the project could not get vaccinated before because it was not free, and said, “We applied it to 15 girls under the age of 250 and more than 15 people over the age of 1500. I call it the nature of science, I call it the debt of knowledge. This is a great thing for me. Because these women will not get cancer, these girls will not get cancer. Even saying this gives me goosebumps. The majority of the group we vaccinated are university graduates and those in high school. I think the relationship of education and mutual trust is a very important development for such a vaccine, which is a gift from science to the world, to find its place. I think that the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality performs a function at least as important as providing safe water in terms of social protection.”