• Friday, March 29, 2024
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Prioritising HPV vaccine for girls, women will help curtail cervical cancer – Falowo

HPV-Vaccine

As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to commemorate International Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Awareness Day on March 4, a health expert has called on governments at all level to make compulsory the administration of the HPV vaccines for girls and women in the country to control cervical cancer.

Tolulope Falowo, founder and executive director, CancerAware Nigeria, a nongovernmental organisation, said HPV is the most common viral infection of the reproductive tract and most sexually active women and men will be infected at some point in their lives and some may be repeatedly infected.

She said that at least 16 other African countries have introduced the HPV vaccine into their routine immunisation programmes, stating that Nigeria cannot be the exception, especially because the country has a huge burden of cervical cancer.

“Cervical cancer is by far the most common HPV-related disease. Nearly all cases of cervical cancer can be attributable to HPV infection. It is the second-most common cancer among women in Nigeria. We believe that prioritising this vaccine means we value the lives of our girls and women.”

“We are calling on the Government of Nigeria to introduce the HPV vaccine into the country’s routine immunisation programme so eligible girls can have access to it,” she said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that countries should include routine HPV vaccination in their national immunisation programmes,

“Nigeria presently has no national HPV immunisation programme. The Federal Ministry of Health’s National Strategic Plan for the Prevention and Control of Cancer of the Cervix in Nigeria (2017 -2021) proposed that in Nigeria, girls between the age of 9 and 13 should receive the HPV vaccine. This is yet to be implemented till date,” Falowo said.

Falowo added that presently in Nigeria, the HPV vaccine is only available at a few private and public health institutions and at a cost that is quite expensive (between N12000 to N15000 per dose) and beneficiaries will need between 2 to 3 doses.

“Since the charity launched the #14000Reasons HPV vaccination campaign in 2019, almost 40000 Nigerians have signed the online petition asking the Government to introduce the HPV vaccine so eligible girls can access it for free. Our aim is to get 100,000 signatures.

“In addition to this, we have also launched an e-book called HPV: Q & A Guide, an information and education resource with common questions and answers on HPV. We believe that with the right information, people can modify their lifestyles to prevent these HPV related cancers,” she said.

However, the majority of HPV infections do not cause symptoms or disease and resolve spontaneously. There are over 200 types of HPV. They are categorised into low- risk and high-risk HPV. Some of the high-risk HPV can cause several types of cancers including cervical cancer and cancers of the penis, anus, vagina, vulva and throat.

There are currently two vaccines which protect against both HPV 16 and 18, which are known to cause at least 70% of cervical cancers. The vaccines may also have some cross-protection against other less common HPV types which cause cervical cancer. One of the vaccines also protects against HPV types 6 and 11 which cause anogenital warts.

Clinical trial results show that both vaccines are safe and very effective in preventing infection with HPV 16 and 18.

Both vaccines work best if administered prior to exposure to HPV. Therefore, it is preferable to administer them before first sexual activity.