The questions come fast and furious: “Why only girls?”, “will it affect her periods?”, “can it cause infertility?”, “is it halal?” Inside the airy sports hall of Khatoon-e-Pakistan government girls’ school, the pupils in their crisp blue and white uniforms whisper among themselves, as their parents listen attentively to the health officials taking the session.
While there are some fathers in the chairs laid out for the occasion, the majority are mothers. The groundwork is under way ahead of Pakistan’s first nationwide rollout of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination campaign.
