The Ministry of Health and Population on Wednesday started a demo vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) from all seven provinces of the country.

Amid an event organised at Paropakar Maternity Hospital, Minister for Health and Population Mohan Bahadur Basnet launched the campaign.

“The government has been working to administer the vaccine from all districts across the country,” Basnet said at the programme.

Human papillomavirus spreads through skin contact. The virus causes cervical cancer, the second-most common cancer in the developing world and a major cause of death in Nepali women. Hundreds of women are estimated to be diagnosed with cervical cancer every year in Nepal.

According to the BP Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital in Bharatpur, more than 700 women suffering from cervical cancer seek treatment there every year.

Experts say early treatment prevents up to 80 percent of cervical cancer.

The government itself purchased the vaccine doses. Each girl between 11 and 13 needs to be administered two doses of the vaccine over a period of six months.

According to Abhiyan Gautam, chief of the Immunisation section at the Family Welfare Division under the Department of Health Services, the vaccine doses will be administered at Koshi Hospital in Koshi Province, Narayani Hospital in Madhesh Province, Paropakar Maternity Hospital in Bagmati Province, Pokhara Hospital in Gandaki Province, Bheri Hospital in Lumbini Province, Surkhet Provincial Hospital in Karnali Province and Dadeldhura Hospital in Sudurpaschim Province.

The vaccine doses have been allocated proportionally according to the size of the population, officials say. Nepal received 20,000 doses of the HPV vaccine in the first week of July that was supposed to be administered to around 9,500 girls in the select districts.

The World Health Organisation says HPV vaccination is recommended as part of a coordinated and comprehensive strategy to prevent cervical cancer and other diseases caused by the virus.