Sir: Losing people to illness and disease is one of the greatest tragedies a country must bear. All the more so when disease is preventable.

So, when any opportunity comes our way to protect our communities, we must embrace it. Cervical cancer is one such disease that we may be about to turn the tide against, thanks to a single dose of vaccine.

Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in Nigeria amongst women,  and in the absence of effective preventative measures such as the HPV vaccine, over 60 million girls above the age of 15 are at risk. And while cervical cancer is the fourth leading cause of death in women globally, it  disproportionately impacts women on our continent, with 19 of the top 20 countries with the highest cervical cancer burden in sub-Saharan Africa.

The most effective way to protect women against cervical cancer is to vaccinate adolescent girls against human papillomavirus (HPV), an infection that causes 95 per cent of cervical cancer cases, however, for far too long these vaccines have not been reaching African countries.

This is all about to change. With larger number of vaccines being produced, and new WHO guidance that a single-dose schedule for HPV vaccination provides sufficient protection against cervical cancer (which has been endorsed by our National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control),  we have an opportunity to do better.

These life-saving vaccines have now arrived in our country and it’s time to put them to work. Protecting a whole cohort of adolescent girls,  however, takes time, and intricate planning. Most vaccinations are given in health clinics when children are very young, but because the HPV vaccine must be administered to school age girls, we need to build systems that allow us to administer them in our educational establishments.

Beginning on October 24, this is exactly what we’ll do, with the HPV vaccine being made available to eligible adolescent girlsin a coordinated state and national effort. This will put our healthcare system to the test, but I know we will prevail. By protecting our communities from devastation and families from the high costs of cancer treatment, we are not just striking a blow for public health, we are brightening the future of our country.

This is not a journey that we are embarking upon alone.  The support of partners at the state and national level including Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance,  which has experience in expanding access to life-saving vaccines, will be critical to helping us achieve our collective goal. Gavi and its partners’ ambition is to ensure 86 million girls are no longer at risk of developing cervical cancer by 2025. In Nigeria, we could contribute to this goal by protecting over 16 million girls within this timeframe.

I call on Nigerians across all walks of life to work together to educate our communities on the importance of the vaccine, and to let them know it’s available. Protecting  our girls from cervical cancer will help us pave the way for healthier and more prosperous future for our nation.

I am confident that together, we can defeat cervical cancer. Let’s rally towards this cause to ensure that every adolescent girl across Nigeria receives the protection she needs. And that generations after are guaranteed the same.

H.E. Senator Oluremi Tinubu, First Lady of Nigeria.