Only 51.9 percent, or 227,600 of 438,800, of girls born in 2004-2005 were vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV), for fear of the injection’s side effects, according to Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention_{질병관리본부}(KCDC).

Experts pointed out that public campaign efforts fell were not sufficient to ease concern about side effects, triggered by some temporary fainting or pain felt by some at the site of inoculation.

For this reason, experts say, it is necessary to make additional efforts, such as educating teachers in charge of children 12 years old and younger, as well as confirming the history of human papillomavirus vaccination in middle schools.

These and other conclusions were reached at a symposium jointly hosted by KCDC and the Women’s Health Foundation_{건강한여성재단} jointly at the Grand Hilton Hotel, Seoul, Friday.

The Healthy Women’s First Step Clinic project started in June last year to provide immunization of HPV with one-on-one health consultations of medical personnel to 12-year-old girls every six months.

Attending the workshop were about 70 local government officials and medical professionals in various fields such as obstetrics-gynecology, pediatrics, and internal medicine, to evaluate the current situation, prospects and improvement plans of the project.

The symposium was to provide the opportunity to maintain interest in, and understanding of the healthcare for women in early stages by those engaged in relevant professional academies, medical fields, and local governments’ immunization project staff, the agency said.

"The first inoculation rate of women born in 2004-2005 was 52 percent, which is already higher than last year (50 percent), and about 60,000 people were vaccinated twice or three times as usual during July and August,” said Gong In-Shik_공인식, director of public awareness vaccination management at KCDC. “As a result of the investigation of the reasons for non-vaccination conducted in June, there are many protesters who reluctant to be vaccinated.”

“We will try to send out more information about the safety of the vaccine,” he added.