Lara Adejoro Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, says seven million Nigerian girls have been vaccinated against the human papillomavirus in two weeks. Announcing this on Wednesday in a statement, Gavi noted that it is a significant milestone that is a critical step in protecting girls from cervical cancer later in life. The Federal Government on October 24, 2023, introduced the first phase of the HPV vaccine into the routine immunisation system, targeting over seven million girls between the ages of nine and 14.
The first phase encompassed 16 states, including Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Enugu, Jigawa, Kano, Lagos, Nasarawa, Ogun, Osun, Taraba, and the Federal Capital Territory. The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Pate said about 4.95 million girls aged nine to 14 were vaccinated against the HPV in the first phase of the vaccination.
The second phase which began on May 27, encompassed the remaining states – Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Gombe, Imo, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Ondo, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Yobe, and Zamfara. HPV is a common sexually transmitted infection that has a silent harbinger of several types of cancers, including cervical cancer. According to the World Health Organisation, cervical cancer is the second most frequent cancer among women in Nigeria and the second most frequent cancer death among women between 15 and 44 years of age.
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