The government will vaccinate women from September to save them from uterus cancer, said Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque on Monday.
"The vaccination programme to prevent women from uterus cancer will start from September. Initially children aged between 10 and 15 years will be vaccinated," he told the media after a meeting to increase primary healthcare services across the country.
At present, female death is mainly caused by uterus cancer. The upcoming vaccination campaign will help reduce the number, he opined.
The minister informed the meeting that the government has taken different initiatives to increase healthcare services at union, upazila and district-level hospitals.
He said a total of six million people of 1.5 million poor families of the country will get medicines and other healthcare-related materials worth Tk 50,000 (each person) under the government's universal health coverage project.
Mr Maleque noted that the number of cancer, kidney and liver cirrhosis patients is increasing day by day due to unrestricted lifestyle coupled with consumption of adulterated foods, and 67 per cent people die due to those diseases.
"The treatment costs of cancer, kidney and liver cirrhosis are very expensive. So, the government wants to stand with the poor people with treatment costs of those diseases," he added.
Primarily Kurigram, Manikganj, Barishal, Barguna, Laximpur, Lalmonirhat and Dhaka North and Dhaka South city corporations will be brought under universal health coverage project.
Secretary of Health Division Dr Md Anwar Hossain Hawlader and Additional Director General of Directorate of Health Services Prof Ahmedul Kabir were present, among others, in the meeting.
