HPV vaccination campaign fails to achieve target in Pakistan 

Misinformation and conspiracy theories plagued the first rollout of a vaccine to protect Pakistani girls against cervical cancer, the country's first human papillomavirus vaccination HPV vaccine campaign aimed to administer jabs to 11 million girls, but during the campaign, jabs were administered to only 55.32 percent of girls, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Monday.

A long-standing conspiracy theory that Western-produced vaccines are used to curb the Muslim population has been circulating online in Pakistan.

In Punjab, the percentage of success of the campaign was recorded at 66.32 percent. The campaign achieved 68 percent of its target in Punjab and 65 percent in Sindh.

The success rate of the campaign was a record 39 percent in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and 35 percent in Islamabad.

As per the target, 1,17,00,000 girls are to be administered the HPV cancer vaccination. Only 77,00,000 girls were administered the HPV vaccination.

In Punjab, 52 lakh girls, 23 lakh in Sindh, were administered with HPV vaccination, Azad Kashmir 97,117, and Islamabad 46,949 were administered with the vaccine.

The campaign was started from September 15, 2025, to September 27, 2025.

Reporter: Babar Shehzad Turk