The Unbelievable Story of the HPV Vaccination Program in Colombia...From a Beautiful Dream to a Nightmare

Background and context: When the Ministry of Health of Colombia decided to provide the HPV vaccination free of charge to all Colombians girls age 9-13 in the year 2012 we were very happy. Aim: This certainly was a wise decision in the right direction in a country where cervical cancer is a major public health issue. Strategy/Tactics: The campaign was launched with great enthusiasm and in the first two years we were able to vaccinate 95% of the targeted population. Program/policy process: But in Colombia, happiness seems to be of short duration. In a small village of the Caribbean region (Carmen de Bolivar), 15 girls were admitted to the emergency of the local hospital with bizarre symptoms such as abdominal pain, headaches, dizziness, some did faint on admission. All the girls were adolescents from the same school and grade. Initially the situation was attributed to a kind of food poisoning. Who and why “someone” decided to blame this clinical syndromes to the HPV vaccination is something that still remai...