{"id":778,"date":"2026-08-20T07:17:59","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T07:17:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chip.org.in\/?p=778"},"modified":"2026-08-20T07:22:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T07:22:30","slug":"the-vaccine-is-available-but-do-parents-know-why-it-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chip.org.in\/index.php\/2026\/08\/20\/the-vaccine-is-available-but-do-parents-know-why-it-matters\/","title":{"rendered":"The Vaccine Is Available. But Do Parents Know Why It Matters?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-779\" src=\"https:\/\/chip.org.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/blog-hpv-300x200.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/chip.org.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/blog-hpv-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/chip.org.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/blog-hpv.png 603w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>During our school outreach programmes, we noticed something that stayed with us.<\/p>\n<p>When we spoke to parents and teachers about <strong>HPV vaccination<\/strong>, many had simple questions:<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cWhat is HPV?\u201d<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>\u201cWhy does my daughter need this vaccine?\u201d<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>\u201cIs it safe?\u201d<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>\u201cAt what age should it be given?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Some had never heard of HPV vaccination before.<\/p>\n<p>This made us realise that the challenge is not only about making vaccines available. <strong>It is also about making people aware and confident enough to use them.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>HPV vaccination is about preventing cancer<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>HPV, or Human Papillomavirus, is the main cause of cervical cancer. Vaccination can help protect against HPV infection and therefore prevent many future cases of cervical cancer.<\/p>\n<p>Recognising this opportunity, the <strong>Government of India launched a nationwide HPV vaccination programme in February 2026<\/strong>, offering free vaccination to eligible 14-year-old girls through government health facilities. The programme aims to reach around <strong>1.2 crore girls every year<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>This is a major step forward.<\/p>\n<p>But a vaccine can only protect a child if her family knows about it, understands its importance and chooses to get her vaccinated.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The awareness gap is real<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Our conversations in schools showed us that parents often need answers to very basic questions.<\/p>\n<p>They want to know:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Why is HPV vaccination needed?<\/li>\n<li>Why is it recommended at this age?<\/li>\n<li>Is the vaccine safe?<\/li>\n<li>Where can it be obtained?<\/li>\n<li>Is it free?<\/li>\n<li>What happens if the child misses vaccination?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Teachers also have an important role.<\/p>\n<p>In many communities, particularly rural areas, <strong>teachers are trusted sources of information for families<\/strong>. If teachers have the right information, they can help parents understand the programme and guide them towards healthcare professionals when they have medical questions.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Awareness must reach the last mile<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>India has made the vaccine available through the public health system.<\/p>\n<p>Now we need to make sure that <strong>information reaches every family<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>HPV awareness should become part of school health programmes, parent meetings and community outreach.<\/p>\n<p>The message does not have to be complicated:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Know HPV.<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Know the vaccine.<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Ask questions.<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Make an informed decision.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Government&#8217;s HPV vaccination programme provides an important opportunity to prevent cervical cancer. But reaching the goal will require more than vaccines.<\/p>\n<p>It will require <strong>parents who understand, teachers who can guide, healthcare workers who can counsel and communities that trust the information they receive.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Sometimes, prevention starts with a question<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>During our outreach programmes, we learned that when a parent asks,<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cWhy does my daughter need this vaccine?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>it is not necessarily refusal.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes, it is simply a parent asking for help to make the right decision.<\/p>\n<p><strong>And that question deserves an answer.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Because preventing cancer can begin long before cancer develops\u2014with <strong>awareness, a conversation and a vaccine.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During our school outreach programmes, we noticed something that stayed with us. When we spoke to parents and teachers about HPV vaccination, many had simple questions: \u201cWhat is HPV?\u201d \u201cWhy does my daughter need this vaccine?\u201d \u201cIs it safe?\u201d \u201cAt what age should it be given?\u201d Some had never heard of HPV vaccination before. This&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":779,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hpv"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chip.org.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chip.org.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chip.org.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chip.org.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chip.org.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=778"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/chip.org.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":783,"href":"https:\/\/chip.org.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778\/revisions\/783"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chip.org.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chip.org.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chip.org.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chip.org.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}