The Nigerian Cancer Society (NCS) has announced September 25 as date to get the first phase of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine for girls between ages nine and 14 to fight cervical cancer.
The society noted that the introduction of the HPV vaccine will prevent girls from contracting the disease in the near future, as it observed that cases of cancer of the cervix is on the increase among ladies and women in the country.
The President, NCS, Dr. Adamu Alhassan Umar, disclosed this at the 2nd yearly education competition of Atinuke Cancer Foundation, themed: “Knowledge conquers cancer, let’s kill it.”
Adamu said there are three most common types of cancer not only in Nigeria, but all around the world, which are breast cancer, cervical cancer and prostate cancer.
According to him, the HPV vaccine is not accessible in Nigeria because it’s very expensive, so it’s not affordable to most victims.
The NCS boss noted that because of the price of the vaccine and increase in the number of victims, members of the society met with government, policy makers and stakeholders on how the vaccine could be made accessible to young girls and ladies as part of immunization programmes.
