Stakeholders have urged governments at all levels to institutionalise advocacy and community engagement to sustain Human Papillomavirus Vaccine (HPV) uptake among adolescent girls, warning that gains made in protecting girls against cervical cancer could be lost without long-term investments.

The call was made on Thursday in Abuja during the close-out and dissemination meeting of the OYA campaign, implemented by Girl Effect with support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in partnership with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA).

The Girl Effect OYA campaign has helped more than 26,000 adolescent girls receive the HPV vaccine across five states, with stakeholders calling for sustained government ownership to ensure every eligible girl is protected against cervical cancer.

Speaking at the event, Country Director of Girl Effect Nigeria, Boladale Akin-Kolapo, said the campaign was designed to move beyond vaccine introduction to building trust and demand within communities, noting that protecting girls from cervical cancer was an investment in Nigeria’s future.

“We are not simply discussing an immunisation programme. We are talking about protecting futures. We are talking about preventing a disease that continues to claim far too many lives and ensuring that millions of Nigerian girls have the opportunity to grow into healthy women, mothers, leaders, innovators and contributors to our nation’s development,” she said.

According to her, the initiative reached more than 4.1 million people through digital platforms and about 18 million through radio programmes, while over 7,800 school and community engagement sessions were conducted across Kaduna, Delta, Ekiti, Ondo and Oyo states.

Akin-Kolapo explained that more than 32,000 parents and caregivers, alongside 18,000 adolescent girls, received accurate information on HPV vaccination and adolescent health, resulting in thousands of girls taking up the vaccine.

“Vaccines do not save lives sitting in cold-chain facilities. Vaccines save lives when people trust them, when parents understand them, when communities embrace them and when girls are empowered to access them,” she said.

She stressed that advocacy and social and behaviour change communication must be treated as core components of immunisation programmes rather than complementary activities.

“The transition from introduction to routinisation presents a new challenge. The issue is no longer whether communities have heard about the HPV vaccine, but whether demand remains strong year after year and whether no girl is left behind because of where she lives or her socio-economic circumstances,” she added.

Akin-Kolapo urged governments at federal, state and local levels to institutionalise demand generation efforts and community engagement mechanisms to sustain gains recorded under the project.

“The future success of HPV vaccination in Nigeria will not ultimately be determined by donor investments. It will be determined by the extent to which government continues to champion, resource and institutionalise these efforts,” she said.

She maintained that investing in girls produces wider societal benefits.

“When we invest in girls, we do not simply change individual lives. We change families, strengthen communities and shape the future of nations,” she stated.

Also speaking, Oyo State Commissioner for Health, Dr Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi, said the project demonstrated the importance of community engagement and gender-responsive strategies in addressing barriers to healthcare access for adolescent girls.

She noted that empowering girls with accurate information and access to health services had significantly contributed to cervical cancer prevention and improved health outcomes.

Ajetunmobi urged stakeholders to sustain the momentum generated by the intervention, saying lessons from the initiative should inform future policies and investments in adolescent health and gender equity.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) also stressed the need to sustain trust, accurate information and community participation to maintain high uptake of the vaccine.

The organisation said vaccine availability alone would not guarantee success unless communities remained informed, engaged and empowered to make decisions that protect the health and future of adolescent girls.

WHO reaffirmed its commitment to supporting Nigeria in strengthening routine immunisation, adolescent health programmes and evidence-based behavioural interventions to ensure equitable access to life-saving vaccines.

A goodwill message delivered on behalf of the Gates Foundation Country Director, Uche Amaonwu-Omotayo, by the Senior Programme Officer Country Immunisation Programme Dr. Aruwa Oteri, commended Girl Effect, Gavi, and other partners for addressing barriers that hinder girls’ access to HPV vaccines.

The Foundation noted that the project successfully targeted caregivers, young women, and adolescent girls through strategic social and behaviour change communication, helping to drive awareness, demand, and vaccine uptake.

It reiterated its commitment to ensuring that girls have access to life-saving vaccines, stressing that protecting girls from an early age strengthens families, communities, and broader development outcomes.

Nigeria introduced the HPV vaccine into its national immunisation programme in 2023 as part of efforts to reduce the burden of cervical cancer, one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths among women.

Stakeholders at the meeting agreed that sustaining investment in awareness creation, school engagement, and community mobilisation remains crucial to ensuring that every eligible Nigerian girl is protected from the preventable disease.

Stakeholders at the event agreed that sustaining awareness campaigns, supporting trusted community champions, and integrating demand generation into government systems would be critical to ensuring that no eligible girl is denied protection against cervical cancer.