Click to view full size

The St. Vin­cent and the Grenadines gov­ern­ment says it hopes ‘per­sua­sion’ will be ef­fec­tive as it seeks to vac­ci­nate 90 per cent of the girls aged 15 and un­der against the hu­man pa­pil­lo­mavirus (HPV) by 2030.

Health, Well­ness and the En­vi­ron­ment Min­is­ter, Jim­my Prince, said the vac­cine has been proven ef­fec­tive against HPV, which caus­es cer­vi­cal can­cer.

How­ev­er, he told leg­is­la­tors that many par­ents are push­ing back against the vac­cine, say­ing that it en­cour­ages young girls to en­gage in sex­u­al ac­tiv­i­ty, even though he said there is no ev­i­dence to sup­port such an ar­gu­ment.