Some vaccinations against the human papillomavirus (HPV) will be delivered at Otago schools next year.
The government-funded vaccination programme, to be available to all girls born on or after January 1, 1990, and expected to cost $177 million over five years, began in September.
So far, it has been offered only to 17 and 18-year-old women, mainly through general practices, but the programme will be phased in next year and the year after to cover schoolgirls from years 8 to 13.
The three-dose vaccine, delivered over six months, is designed to protect against HPV infection, which can cause genital warts and lead to the development of cervical cancer in later life.
At this stage, the uptake of the vaccine to date in Otago, where there are an estimated 3000 17-and 18-year-olds, is not known, but some practices have found the women difficult to reach.
One offered special weekend clinics, but found 9am on a Saturday was not a popular time with young women.
Concerns about the possibility of the campaign breaching the Electoral Finance Act have also meant that the introduction of the programme was more low-key than might have been expected.
Well Dunedin (a primary health organisation) has recently been contracted to manage the project in Otago, undertaking planning in conjunction with Public Health South.
Well Dunedin chief executive Sandy Baines said vaccinations would eventually be offered at schools for year 8 to year 13 pupils, but planning had only just begun and the logistics were still to be settled.
Having a school-based programme, although this was not originally envisaged by the Otago District Health Board, is considered the most effective way of reaching eligible girls.
Part of the planning will be working out how to best distribute information about the vaccine to parents and girls.
This may include special workshops.
Ms Baines said parents who wished to have their daughters vaccinated, but not at school, would still have the choice of attending their general practice.
Any parent concerned who wanted their daughter to have the vaccine and worried she might become sexually active before it was available through a school always had the option of visiting their general practitioner, she said.
Issues, such as whether school rolls will be accessed for girls' names, as happened during the meningococcal vaccination campaign, had yet to be worked through.
