A medical researcher in Fiji blames local media for making people wary of the anti-cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil.
The International drug manufacturer, Merck, has donated the vaccine, and Fiji officials are rushing to give more than 30,000 girls between nine and 12 years all three injections needed before it expires in June.
It's is seen as the only chance to lower the country's high death rate from cervical cancer.
But a medical researcher and pediatrician, Fiona Russel, says negative media coverage has put off many parents.
"The issues of not having the vaccine was that just one week after the beginning of the campaign there was a poorly researched article in the local newspaper. The source of the information was a well-known anti-immunisation website. People read that article and there was a lot of fear generated in the public in response to that article."
Fiona Russel says only 63 percent of girls have so far received the first dose.
