By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
The World Health Organization, WHO, Regional Director, Dr. Matshidisco Rebecca Moeti has said that the Human Papilloma Vaccine, HPV, is the game changer in cervical cancer elimination in the African Region and globally.
Dr. Moeti made this known Wednesday in her message to mark the Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, January, in Nigeria and other countries.
She noted that so far twenty-seven countries, including Nigeria, have adopted HPV vaccination as part of routine vaccination in young women.
Late 2023, the Nigerian Government flagged off its HPV routine vaccination for young girls between the ages of 9 to 14 years in Primary Health Care, PHC, facilities across the country.
Moeti in a clarion call to tackle the spread of cervical cancer in the region said, ‘I would urge all countries in the region to actively engage in awareness campaigns, promote screening and encourage HPV vaccination among their young women.”
She further noted that the good news is that the region is scaling up and increasing HPV vaccine coverage in the target populations, which is highly encouraging.”
The 2024 campaign for cervical cancer month is” Be Informed, Get Screened, Get Vaccinated”.
The Regional Director said, “Cervical cancer awareness requires us to empower women with knowledge, at school, by clinic staff, and from women who are living with the disease.”
” Understanding the link between the disease and HPV will encourage screening, and HPV vaccination among young women,” she explained.
According to WHO, “In 2020, in the WHO African Region, 100,000 women developed cervical cancer and approximately 70,000 of these women died – this is 21% of the cervical cancer mortality globally.”
Moeti lamented that the high rates of cervical cancer in our region is due to the major gaps in knowledge, awareness of the disease, and access to screening.
She therefore emphasized the urgent need to ensure that the HPV vaccine reaches all young women between the ages of 9 to 14 years.
Furthermore, she disclosed that WHO African Region in 2021 launched a specific public health framework aimed at tackling the burden of cervical cancer by accelerating the elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem in Africa.
“This frame targets: 90% of girls are fully vaccinated with HPV vaccine by 15 years of age; 70% of women are screened using a high-performance test by 35 years of age and again by 45 years of age; and 90% of women with pre-cancer are treated, and 90% of women with more advanced cancer are managed.”
” As we start 2024, let’s keep cervical cancer high on our agenda. My message is clear: first, cervical cancer can be prevented, and it can be cured. Everyone needs to be aware of the disease, what causes it and how it can be prevented, Moeti stated.
