![Small drug vial with HPV vaccine [PHOTO Credit: Leigh Prather - stock.adobe.com]](https://i0.wp.com/media.premiumtimesng.com/wp-content/files/2023/08/hpv-vaccine.jpeg?ssl=1)
…it is a lot of progress for the Nigerian government to introduce the HPV vaccine into its routine immunisation schedule, with the aim of reaching 7.7 million girls with an initial roll out in 16 states and another in 21 states by May 2024. By the end of 2025, 16.6 million girls between the ages of nine and 14 should have been vaccinated.
About 22 women die daily from cervical cancer in Nigeria, according to the estimates of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Let’s dwell on this for a bit. According to IARC, this estimate was derived using the “mean of the rates from Ibadan (2015-2017), Abuja (2013-2018), Calabar (2016-2017) and Ekiti (2013-2018) cancer registries, which were scaled to Western Africa.” This is sourced from the unpublished data of the African Cancer Registry Network (AFCRN). It screams tricky, which is not surprising, as it clearly depicts the low presence of data for decision making, which affects proper planning and policy…