Minister of Health Izabela Leszczyna on Wednesday presented the project “Safe, conscious self”. Among other things, she talked about HPV vaccinations for 12- and 13-year-olds. She admitted that the ministry cannot yet boast of spectacular successes in this regard.

She noted that the free vaccination program includes girls and boys. She appealed to the media to promote vaccination. - Let's talk about the fact that it is not only about girls, it is also about boys, - she added. - It seems that promoting, raising awareness, educating the public, parents, but also children about the fact that (...) we can avoid cervical cancer, which takes 2.5 thousand women every year, is extremely important. This can give our children (...) a pass to health in this regard and it is worth doing - said Leszczyna.

She stressed that the group of children entitled to vaccinations can be expanded. - I will want to expand the scope of these vaccinations again, that is, to include younger children, - announced the head of the Ministry of Health.

An expert on “cancers that are increasingly common.” “We really have a very simple way to fight it.”

Professor Marzena Dębska, a specialist in gynecology and obstetrics, spoke on Thursday on TVN24 about the importance of vaccination against HPV. - HPV is a virus common among people, which is the main cause of cervical cancer, but not only, because there are also many other cancers in women and in men - she stressed.

For example, few people know about it that it causes tumors of the head and neck. Cancer of the tonsil, tongue, palate, larynx. These are cancers that are becoming more common and we really have a very simple way to fight it,” she said.

The host of TVN24 emphasized that “for more than a dozen years, vaccination against HPV has been in force throughout Europe, which in most countries is mandatory.” - And there are already such countries where this disease, cervical cancer, which is most dependent on this virus, belongs to the rarity. Trips from Scandinavian countries begin to come to us to see cervical cancer. We are absolutely here a dozen years behind and I hope that this will change now - said Professor Dębska.

“Everyone should get vaccinated, because everyone will benefit”

- We must remember that everyone can get vaccinated, because there is no upper age limit for vaccination at the moment. The limit is only financial. Everyone should get vaccinated because everyone will benefit. The biggest are those people who have never come into contact with this virus, she pointed out.

Professor Dębska stressed that “we need to achieve approximately ninety percent vaccination of the population so that there is no disease.” - At the moment, a dozen percent of people are vaccinated, so there is still a lot to do here. We need to talk about it,” she said.

Think about health, for women to get tested, to get pregnant, to have prenatal tests, to have the opportunity to protect themselves from cancer. These are ordinary human affairs,” she added.

See all the material on TVN24

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