…introduces HPV vaccination to routine immunization
By: Theresa Moses
In a bid to check the rising incidence of cervical cancer among teenage girls in Nigeria, the Lagos State Primary Health Care Board (LSPHCB) is to launch the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.
The programme which begins from September 25th to September 30th, 2023, is targeting girls ages 9 to 14.
The Director of Health Education and Health Promotion Services at (LSPHCB), Mrs. Clara Owojuyigbe, made this known while speaking at a recent media orientation parley with stakeholders on the HPV vaccine, which is now included in routine immunization.
Owojuyigbe, who represented the Permanent Secretary, appealed to parents to give their consent for their teenage girls to get vaccinated against the human papillomavirus to prevent them from getting cervical cancer in the future.
“I am appealing to parents, religious leaders, and community leaders to bring their children for HPV vaccination from September 25 to September 30. The vaccine is expensive, but the government is making it available for pre-teen girls for free.”
In the same vein, United Nations Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) Adolescent Health and HPV vaccine Consultant, Boma Utobo, said that HPV is a sexually transmitted infection found most commonly among sexually active adolescents and young women.
“The virus is associated with so many types of cancer, such as cancer of the anus, vulva, vagina, and penis, and most commonly the cervix, popularly referred to as cervical cancer. There are over 100 types of HPV, though few of them cause cancer in humans, especially HPV types 16 and 18, which cause about 70 percent of cervical cancer cases worldwide”.
Utobo highlighted that the vaccine, known as Gardasil, provides lifelong immunity with just a single dose, ensuring long-term protection against cervical cancer, ranked as the fourth most prevalent cancer among women worldwide and the second most common in Nigeria. The importance of this vaccine to our young girls cannot be overemphasized, she concluded.
She also urged parents and guardians to take the benevolence gesture of the government and bring their young girls for vaccination with Gardasil vaccine, which has an efficacy rate of 95 percent and has been used in other countries including Rwanda, Uganda, Liberia, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Kenya, Cameroon, Lesotho, etc. It is also in alignment with the World Health Organization’s recommendations.
The first phase of the vaccination for preteen girls will be carried out in 16 states across the federation. The states include Lagos, Abuja, Nasarawa, Kano, Jigawa, Enugu, Abia, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Benue, Bauchi, Taraba, Adamawa, Kebbi, Osun, and Ogun State.
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