KUALA LIPIS: A specialist doctor from a public hospital here is ramping up an awareness campaign on the prevention of cervical cancer, thanks to a teenage Orang Asli girl.
Obstetrician and Gynaecologist Dr D. Devendran said he met the 14-year-old while she was accompanying her elder sister to the hospital last month.
“She showed a video from a social media post of teenagers getting the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccinations in other states.
“She then asked whether teenagers in her village could get the same life-saving jabs, which touched the hearts of my team and I,” he said in an interview yesterday.
Dr Devendran said the request showed that the Orang Asli’s younger generation were aware of the importance of getting the HPV vaccination.
He said the teenager, a school dropout, had made him realise that it was important to organise outreach programmes in Orang Asli settlements in the district.
“This was when my team decided to moot the initiative to reach out to the Orang Asli community through cooperation with non-governmental organisations (NGOs),” he said.
Dr Devendran said for a start, an outreach programme would be held at the Kampung Orang Asli Sungai Yong, Ulu Dong, in Raub.
