Fact-check: Experts dismiss misinformation about HPV vaccine and fertility
The vaccine has been safely used in over 140 countries since 2006, with no documented link to infertility in women
Updated Friday Oct 03 2025
Soon after Pakistan rolled out the HPV vaccine for adolescent girls to fight against cervical cancer, videos began circulating online alleging that the vaccine would cause infertility in young girls later.
These claims were also repeated by some politicians.
The claim is baseless and has been rejected by doctors, health experts and scientific studies.
Claim
On September 15, a TikTok user shared a graphic overlaid with text written in the Urdu language that read:
“Parents, beware! What is the HPV vaccine? It will be given to girls aged nine to 14 years in schools, but only to girls. This is being done to stop the growing population in the world by making girls infertile, so that after marriage, they cannot have children. Parents should not allow their daughters to receive this vaccine.”
On September 18, Rashid Mahmood Soomro, a politician from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) political party, also claimed that young schoolgirls aged nine to 14 are being vaccinated without proper consent and that the vaccine could cause infertility.
His speech can be seen here
Fact
There is no evidence that the HPV vaccine raises any concerns about fertility in those who receive it, confirm health experts, scientific studies, and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Sindh’s Minister for Health Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho told Geo Fact Check that there is absolutely no evidence that this vaccine affects fertility.
“This vaccine is very safe, it is approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and was procured by Gavi [a Geneva-based vaccine alliance that supplies vaccines to the world’s poorest countries] and is being used across the world,” she said.
The minister further urged all parents to get their daughters vaccinated because cervical cancer is the only cancer that is preventable by a vaccine.
“If there is a way to protect your children from a deadly disease, then this opportunity should not be wasted,” she continued.
Professor Dr Nabia Tariq, the head of the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at Maroof International Hospital in Islamabad, told Geo Fact Check in a phone interview that the HPV vaccine is not limited to Pakistan, it is administered in more than 140 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and several European nations, under government programs.
She said the vaccine has been in use since 2006, and in countries where it is widely given, cervical cancer cases have become negligible.
The doctor added that in Pakistan the single-dose vaccine has been used, available since 2016, and has undergone phase four trials. “It is well tested and documented in the literature that this vaccine does not cause infertility,” she said.
Dr Khurram Akram, the director (technical) of the Federal Directorate of Immunisation in Islamabad, also refuted the online claims that HPV vaccination causes infertility in girls.
“There is no evidence [to support this claim]. The claim is misinformation and disinformation,” he said.
Additionally, in 2019, the WHO published a report where it reviewed concerns raised about the safety of the HPV vaccine, and concluded that there was no connection between HPV vaccination and infertility.
The report can be read here
Verdict: The claim that the HPV vaccine causes infertility in girls is unproven and contradicted by scientific studies, the World Health Organisation, and medical experts. The vaccine has been safely used in over 140 countries since 2006, with no documented link to infertility in women.
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