Cervical cancer is the fourth most common type of cancer, and is caused by sexually transmitted diseases, reports Ekonomia Online.
Meanwhile, receiving the HPV vaccine against the human papillomavirus (HPV) prevents the disease itself.
In an interview with Ekonomia Online, Valdet Hashani, director of the Main Center for Family Medicine (QKMF), announced that the age group for people who can receive this vaccine has been expanded.
"A very good piece of information, which came from the National Institute of Public Health of Kosovo, respectively the Ministry of Health, the range or age group for administering the HPV vaccine, now with the recommendations of the institute has been extended to 26 years, while from the age of 26 to 45 it is done exclusively with the recommendation of a doctor, due to the indications that must be taken, you know that the HPV vaccine was approved for the first time in Kosovo in 2023, in October 2023 the Ministry of Health approved it and in 2024 in February we started administering or the first campaign or the first immunization with the HPV vaccine which at that time was only for girls and the percentage for 2024 was 84 percent which we actually expected resistance since in our mentality how to separate for girls and boys, it is thought that there is something, but at that time it was because there was not enough quantity. Immediately in "In 2025, the Ministry of Health, through the Main Family Medicine Centers at the national level, has expanded the provision or application of the HPV vaccine for boys and girls, where the regular vaccination schedule is 11-12 years, which corresponds to the sixth grade of primary school, and so far it has been up to the age of 21, and in 2025 this percentage has increased to 88%, which corresponds to 89 for girls, while 87 for men, the average is 88 percent, which means that within one year we have an increase of four percent, due to the broadcasts that you do and the awareness-raising through broadcasts, so that the population actually knows that this vaccine is a vaccine that prevents the appearance of cervical cancer and not only, since this HPV virus manifests or causes various cancers, especially cervical cancer," Hashani told EO.
Hashani says that vaccination is the cheapest and easiest method to prevent this disease.
"In general, vaccination is the cheapest and easiest method to prevent the onset of the disease. Since their introduction at the beginning of the last century, vaccines have reduced mortality by up to 97 percent recently. Therefore, it is good that the recommendations that come from health professionals from the National Institute of Public Health of Kosovo, Kosovo health institutions at the national level, and health professionals listen to this advice, since we really have another problem, not only at the Kosovo level, now this has become a global problem," said Hashani.
Director Hashani also spoke about the measles vaccine, saying that despite the decline in measles vaccine uptake, the latter is not at all linked to causing autism, as has been presented.
"Due to the decline in the measles vaccine, precisely because of the unprofessional appearances of people who slightly dispute the receipt of this vaccine and connect it many times, it has now become a dogma that is related to autism that has no connection and precisely for this we have spoken several times on shows either in the studio or in statements, since the person who presented this 30 years ago had his license taken away, he does not work as a doctor, meaning it was complete misinformation, keep in mind 60 years ago when the vaccine was introduced, we did not have autism and the vaccine was taken up to 90 percent, today the vaccine has dropped to 70 percent or so, while we have autism, this fact itself shows that the measles vaccine is not related. Of course, we had a meeting within the QKMF and the Health Directorate, where we also called all the heads of units, a campaign will be launched through UNICEF and the National Institute of Public Health in order to increase "The vaccination is what you said, so the vaccine is what prevents faster and costs very cheaply. Consider how much a breast cancer treatment costs for a woman or a girl, a vaccine that costs less than one euro," said Hashani.
According to him, receiving the HPV vaccine does not have any side effects, except that the patient may have a fever, as happens with other vaccines, but everything is temporary.
"In reality, vaccines, like any other vaccine, can cause pain at the local site where they are applied, usually in the arms, but the fever or pain lasts for a few hours or disappears within a day and there are no contraindications for receiving these vaccines, meaning parents should not worry about contraindications or the consequences that vaccines can cause, since vaccines do not cause consequences, they only prevent the occurrence of diseases that are very dangerous and in many cases, some of the diseases can even be deadly," said Hashani.
Cervical cancer, according to the WHO, is the fourth most common type of cancer in women, and more than 95 percent of cases are caused by sexually transmitted diseases.
According to recent studies by the "Cancer Research" organization, based in Britain, the HPV vaccine reduces cervical cancer cases by almost 90 percent.
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