NPHCDA expresses concern over low uptake of Cervical Cancer vaccine in Lagos, other southern states

.Says over 4.5 million girls vaccinated against cervical cancer in 14 states, FCT
.Taraba, Kebbi record high acceptance of HPV vaccine

The National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), has expressed concern over the low uptake of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in the southern parts of the country particularly Lagos state.

The agency called on parents, caregivers and relevant stakeholders to support the government to ensure that all girls between the ages of nine and 15 years are vaccinated to give them protection against cervical cancer which is the second most prevalent cancer among women of between the ages of 15 and 44 in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, more than 4.5 million girls have been vaccinated against the cervical cancer in 14 states and the FCT.

With 8000 women in Nigeria dying of cervical cancer every year, TASCK Creative Agency, supported by the Centre for Communication and Social Impact (CCSI), is promoting discussions around the devastating disease with the aim of ensuring that all eligible girls are vaccinated.

Speaking at the Women’s Health Dinner organized by TASCK Creative Agency in collaboration with CCSI, for Creative influencers and stakeholders dedicated to fostering awareness and engaging discussions on pivotal women’s health themes, the NPHCDA Acting Director, Disease Control and Immunization, Dr Ahmed-Rufai Garba who decried the vaccine hesitancy in some parts of the country, stated that the HPV vaccine has always been available for the elites who have the money to pay and wondered why all of a sudden, the jab which has been certified to be safe and very effective against cervical cancer is no longer good, just because it has made sv

He noted that Cervical cancer is preventable and there is no reason for anybody to go through that pain

Garba who dismissed misinformations sorrounding the HPV vaccine, pointed out that the HPV virus itself is what can cause infertility and not the vaccine.

According to him, “scientific evidence has shown that the HPV vaccine works and has never caused infertility anywhere, over 121 countries, including 21countries in Africa are using this vaccines and we have not heard of any story of infertility anywhere.

“Get your daughters vaccinated; let us protect the young ladies from the pain of the future.. So far, we have been able to vaccinate over 4.5 million young ladies in fourteen States and the FCT and despite the anti vac story, the false rumors, we are happy that we had a very good acceptance and these numbers keep coming in.

“As we speak now, we are working with the international bodies to ensure that we bring more vaccines into the country, so that we may be able to deploy them,so that that all the young women who needs vaccines actually get them.”

According to him, “In terms of acceptance, so far, we have a higher proportion of the vaccines being utilized on the Northern part of the country.

“We have a couple of issues in the south, mostly Lagos, and this is a call out to everybody who is Lagos or have a daughter in Lagos to know that these vaccines are safe and efficient.

“Bring your daughters to collect these vaccines.The vaccine uptake in Taraba, Kebbi is overwhelming and we are hoping to run to Lagos collect the vaccines that have not been utilized and take them to Kebbi and Taraba where they have finished all the vaccine given to them. The vaccine is being used in other countries, the vaccine is safe and effective.

Adding: “We have recorded the highest utilization rate in terms of acceptance from the north, in the Northeast we have Taraba state and in the Northwest we have Kebbi state and also Kano. They have been able to vaccinate 97 percent of the targeted population so far.

“In the south, we have very low acceptance of the vaccine but Lagos State is a state that we expected that we would utilize the vaccines within the first week but to our greatest surprise, Lagos state has the lowest utilization rate in the country so far.

“The hesitancy is as a result of the anti vaccine campaigner, I want to say that the this antivac have flooded the internet with a whole lots of this false stories and expectedly Lagos is a metropolitan and elitist state where people get to see this on the internet and like we know bad news is always easier to believe than the good news. But not withstanding that, we are working hard to ensure that we debunk all those anti vac stories.”

Executive Director of the Centre for Communication and Social Impact (CCSI),
Babafunke Fagbemi noted that TASCK Creative Agency is supporting to ensure that the creatives who are influencers in their own spaces are brought to the table so that they can air their opinion of how we have the correct information about HPV and through their voices we can get correct information out there that the HPV vaccines are safe.

She said, “We know one person that is satisfied will tell three people but one person that is dissatisfied will tell ten thousand people so want to reduce the misinformation out there and get the people to actually be empowered because you know knowledge alone does not allow you to take action but knowing some of the barriers around the concerns around safety which we know that the vaccine is.

“My daughter has been vaccinated and I myself have been vaccinated against the HPV, i have family members that has died of cervical cancer so if we don’t get vaccinated then what else do we have to do.”

Also speaking, the Executive Director of Vaccine Network, Mrs Chika Offor, who narrated how her mother died of cervical cancer about 28 years ago after one year of excruciating pains, noted that her late mother equated the cervical cancer pain to labour pain but while Labour pain has an end in sight, her own had no end

On her part, the Country Director of Pathfinder International, Dr Amina Aminu Dorayi, who noted that her 21 year-old daughter was give the HPV vaccine when she was 10, explained that the HPV vaccine does not just protect against cervical, it protects against throat cancer because HP virus also causes throat cancer, it also protects against Vulva cancer and Penile Cancer.

She said: “We need to encourage our family and friends to protect their children by getting them vaccinated because there are no other options.”

The National Desk Offer, HPV vaccine introduction at the NPHCDA, Elizabeth Hassan, disclosed that Nigeria is the 157th country to introduce the HPV vaccine,

She noted that since the introduction of the vaccine, many people have embraced it but there is also vaccine hesitancy as a result of opposition from anti vaccine campaigners.

Hassan observed that cervical cancer is very devastating but can be prevented through simple vaccination adding that because of the population, Nigeria is targeting only girls between 9- 15 years.

She stated that getting young ladies from nine years to 14 years vaccinated with the vaccine gives the hope that they will grow into adulthood and not have to bother themselves with coming down with cervical cancer.