To reduce the mortality rate of women in Nasarawa State, the Federal Government has begun a vaccination of young girls between the ages of nine and 14 years against the Human Papilloma Virus which is responsible for cervical cancer in women.
In Nigeria, an estimated 14,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer, and over 7,900 women die from the disease every year.
The HPV is the most common viral infection of the reproductive tract, mainly transmitted through sexual contact, and most people become infected with HPV shortly after the onset of sexual activity.
Speaking at a one-day stakeholders’ engagement for the introduction of the HPV vaccine in Lafia on Thursday, the Executive Secretary of Nasarawa State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr. Mohammed Usman Addis, said the aim of the vaccination was to completely eradicate cervical cancer in the state.
The Executive Secretary who was represented by the Deputy Director of Immunisation and Programme Manager of the State Emergency Routine Immunisation Coordination Centre, Ayuba Ismaila, explained that Nasarawa State was one of the 16 states that would administer the first batch of the vaccine in the country beginning from September 25, 2023.
He expressed gratitude to the Federal Government for considering the state to partake in the vaccination exercise, adding that the efforts of the government would help reduce the mortality rate of young girls and women in the state.
