| [00:00.100] |
From VOA Learning English, |
| [00:02.340] |
this is the Health Report. |
| [00:05.320] |
Zambia has one of the highest rates of |
| [00:09.300] |
cervical cancer in the world, |
| [00:12.590] |
90 of every 100,000 Zambian women |
| [00:17.080] |
get the preventable disease. |
| [00:20.210] |
The Zambian government recently |
| [00:22.760] |
launched a program to vaccinate school girls |
| [00:26.490] |
against the Human Papilloma Virus - HPV. |
| [00:32.130] |
The virus is known to cause cervical cancer. |
| [00:36.650] |
HPV can spread through sexual contact. |
| [00:41.740] |
The government hopes to vaccinate school girls |
| [00:45.020] |
between the ages of 9 - 11 against HPV. |
| [00:50.750] |
The program was launched in May at several schools. |
| [00:55.180] |
One of them is the Kalingalinga Primary School in Lusaka, |
| [01:02.510] |
about 100 students there received the HPV vaccine. |
| [01:09.100] |
Euphrasia Mweshi Mutale is a teacher, |
| [01:12.530] |
she was involved in efforts to inform the community |
| [01:16.870] |
about what was expected to be a sensitive subject. |
| [01:21.400] |
Miss Mutale is happy with the earlier results. |
| [01:25.490] |
She says people involved in the program |
| [01:28.130] |
met with parents and teachers to tell them |
| [01:32.460] |
why it is good to vaccinate the girls. |
| [01:36.640] |
She knows there have been no immediate reported |
| [01:40.120] |
side effects from the vaccine, |
| [01:42.820] |
like high body temperature or skin discoloration. |
| [01:47.650] |
Mulindi Mwanahamuntu is the director of |
| [01:52.180] |
the Cervical Cancer Prevention Program in Zambia. |
| [01:56.660] |
He says health officials want to |
| [01:59.540] |
vaccinate 25,000 girls as part of the of program, |
| [02:05.430] |
but he says there was some resistance |
| [02:09.160] |
from churches and other groups. |
| [02:12.490] |
"The very fact that it is given to the pre-sexual years |
| [02:17.020] |
it would indicate to others that we are permitting children |
| [02:22.600] |
therefore to go out and have sex." |
| [02:27.580] |
Zambian and international health officials |
| [02:31.210] |
are working to break the resistance |
| [02:34.450] |
by educating communities in different ways. |
| [02:39.130] |
Dr. Pelum-Hazeley is with the United Nations. |
| [02:44.320] |
She starts in a local radio program called Celebrating Life. |
| [02:50.840] |
Her program aims to educate listeners on medical issues, |
| [02:57.220] |
so they can make the right decisions for their children. |
| [03:02.310] |
"We just have to continue educating the people |
| [03:05.440] |
because if someone has had a complication, |
| [03:09.770] |
and of course there are reasons why there are complications. |
| [03:12.060] |
It does not necessarily mean the same thing is going to happen here." |
| [03:15.200] |
The World Health Organization rates Zambia third |
| [03:19.840] |
on its list of highest death rates from cervical cancer. |
| [03:25.010] |
The country also has the highest cervical cancer rate in Africa. |
| [03:32.720] |
And that's the Health Report from VOA Learning English. |
