PUNCH NEWS
A pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, has said cervical cancer may become the first cancer to be eliminated with a vaccine.
In a statement signed by the company and in commemoration of World Immunisation Week, Medical Director, Sub-Saharan Africa, Pfizer, Kodjo Soroh, said there was a need to invest in vaccine research and development.
He said, “Vaccines underpin our global health security by preventing and controlling over 30 infectious diseases, reducing unnecessary hospitalisations, and controlling infectious disease outbreaks. We should not forget that they are one of the world’s most powerful and cost-effective public health tools available and have successfully helped to eradicate, eliminate, and manage many deadly infectious diseases. Smallpox has been eradicated and polio is nearly gone. Cervical cancer could become the first cancer to be eliminated.”
“Vaccines also play a critical role in combating antimicrobial resistance, they can reduce antibiotic use by preventing bacterial infections in the first place, such as with the pneumococcal and meningococcal vaccines, and can also prevent viral infections such as flu, which can provoke secondary infections requiring antibiotics…
