Kwara State Initiates HPV Vaccination for Schoolgirls to Combat Cervical Cancer

Date: 2024-05-28

According to a news report from Punch, 787 girls from Kwara Basic Schools received the HPV vaccine on Monday in Ilorin, the state capital, as part of a campaign to prevent cervical cancer.

The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), in partnership with the Kwara State government, launched the free vaccination programme among schoolchildren in the state.

Punch reports that the Federal Government had announced Monday, May 27, as the start date for the second phase of the HPV vaccination campaign in the country.

This second phase will include the states of Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Gombe, Imo, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Ondo, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Yobe, and Zamfara.

During the rollout of the Human Papillomavirus vaccine in Ilorin, the Executive Director of the NPHCDA, Dr Muyi Aina, highlighted that cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women globally and the second most common cancer affecting women in Nigeria.

He noted that a total of 787 schoolchildren were vaccinated at the commencement of the programme in the state.

Aina, who was represented by Sheu Hassan, described the HPV vaccine as “a very important vaccine,” adding, “It prevents the HPV, which is the most common viral infection of the reproductive tract and causes more than 95 per cent of cases of cervical cancer.”

He said that eligible girls between the ages of 9 and 14 years across the 193 wards in the 16 local government areas of Kwara State would be vaccinated against cervical cancer during the five-day programme.

“I believe that together, we will achieve the goal of this exercise. At least 80 per cent of eligible girls aged nine to 14 years will be reached during the five-day intensification, after which the HPV vaccines will be accessed by our girls through routine immunisation services in our PHC facilities.

“Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women globally and the second most common cancer affecting women in Nigeria. It is estimated that 604,000 cases with 342,000 deaths occurred globally in 2020, and an estimated 12,075 cases and 7,968 deaths were recorded in Nigeria,” the NPHCDA boss said.

He described the vaccine as free, safe, and effective, urging stakeholders to mobilise family members, friends, and communities to ensure that all eligible girls got vaccinated.

In her remarks, the wife of the Kwara State Governor, Olufolake AbdulRazaq, assured of the efficacy of the vaccine, while she charged stakeholders to dispel rumours and misconceptions against the HPV vaccines.

“Today's event set the tone for an ambitious, inclusive strategy to accelerate eliminating cervical cancer as a public health concern. Elimination is within the reach of all, hence we in Kwara are committed to towing this path to ensure that we seize the opportunities within our reach now, so that our girls will live free of this disease.

“In complementing the efforts that culminated in incorporating the HPV vaccine into the national routine immunisation schedule and today's rollout, however, I urge key stakeholders in respective communities to continue to amplify awareness and sensitisation on the benefits of presenting eligible children for the vaccine.

“This no doubt will entail engagements with our communities, traditional and religious institutions to educate, inform, and dispel any misconceptions surrounding the HPV vaccine,” she added.

 

Cloud Tag: What's trending

Click on a word/phrase to read more about it.

Ajia-Bako     Wale Oladepo     Lanre Jimoh     Inside Kwara     KW-GIS     Demola Banu     Ahmad Uthman     KWSIEC     Amada Jidda     Olohungbebe     Apaokagi     Tosin Saraki     Mohammed Lawal Bagega     Ahmed Shuaib Buranga     Emmanuel Olatunji Adesoye     Barakat Community Secondary School     Fatimoh Lawal     Ahmad Fatima Bisola     Abdulwahab Olarewaju Issa     Umar Danladi Shero     Kwara Coalition Of Business And Professional Associations     Kayode Ibrahim     Oyun     Suleiman Alege Kuranga     Durosinlohun Atiku     Lasiele Alabi Yahaya     Gafaru Olayiwola Olorisade     Kwara State Governor     Pilgrims Board     Umar Ahmed Gunu     Kehinde Baale     Fareedah Dankaka     National Broadcasting Commission     Plat Technologies     Saduki Lafiagi     Olugbense     Otuka     Jaigbade Alao     Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital     Salihu Jibril Garbi     Bibire Ajape     Femi Gbajabiamila     Wole Oke     Suleiman Rotimi Iliasu     Isiaka Rafiu Mope     Sulyman Buhari     Islamiya Abdulraheem     Mopelola Abdulmaliq-Bashir     Mufti Of Ilorin     Nigeria Customs Service     Abdullahi Dasilva Yussuf     Halimat Yusuf     Alfa Modibo Belgore     Sulu Babaita Isiaka     Adam Abdullahi Al-Ilory     Bayo Lawal     Vasolar Consultoria     Iyaloja-General     General Tunde Idiagbon International Airport     EndSARS     V.O. Abioye     Kwara State Football Association     Ayoade Akinnibosun     Issa Memunat Moyosore     Gbajabiamila     Ilorin East     Kehinde Boyede     New Model Police Station     Olatunji Moronfoye     Haashim Initiative For Community Advancement     Simeon Sule Ajibola     Sabi     New Nigeria People’s Party     Ramadhan     Ronke Adeyemi     Olatunde Olukoya     Jamila Bio Ibrahim    

Cloud Tag: What's trending

Click on a word/phrase to read more about it.

Funmilayo Zubair     KWSUED     Labour Party     Kishira     Oke-Ogun     Olabode Towoju     Amule Elementary School     PPS     Malete     Ibrahim Abikan     Saka Asiat Ayinke     Ojuekun Sarumi     Ike Ekweremadu     Ilorin Anchor Men And Women     Kwarareports.com     Esinniobiwa Quareeb     Alfa Modibbo Belgore     Bank Of Industry     Mansur Alfanla     Akanji     Budo Egba     Ayoade Akinnibosun     John Olajide Adedipe     David Oyedepo     Young Progressives Party     Gbajabiamila     Kwara NIPR     Saheed Akinwumi     Owode Market     Abatemi-Usman     Ishaq Salman     Afetu Of Alabe     Musibau Akanji     Kulende-UITH     Chief Imam Of Ilorin     Dogara     Jimoh Bashir     Tunji Moronfoye     Oluwatoyin Lukman     Mustapha Akanbi     Muhammed Danjuma     Gaa Olobi     Omupo     Y.A. Abdulkareem     Labaeka     Oluwole Dupe     Samuel Adedoyin     Suleman Abubakar     Yahaya A Paniyaro     KSIRS     Offa Metropolitan Club     Durbar     Justina Oha     Flights To Ilorin     Yekeen Alabi     Saba Jibril     Lola Olabayo     Bayer AG     Saidu Yaro Musa     Kola Bukoye     Saraki     Laboratory-to-Product     Nagode     Ibrahim Akaje     Kwara 2023     Abdulrazak Shehu Akorede     Abdulrazaq Aiyelabegan     Raji AbdulRasaq     Kawu     Fatai Garuba Labaka     SDP     Sheu Ndanusa Usman     Kwara State Infrastructure Development Fund     Taofik Mustapha     Aminu Ado Bayero     Ibrahim Mashood     Olaiya Victor Mobolaji