Ondo vaccinates 321,000 girls against HPV

The Ondo State Government said it has recorded impressive coverage in vaccinating teenage girls against the Human papillomavirus (HPV) in the state.

While vowing to sustain the tempo recorded in the vaccination against the deadly cervical cancer, which had been incorporated into the state’s routine immunisation, the state government revealed that no fewer than 321,008 girls had been fortified against the deadly cervical cancer with the HPV vaccine.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Banji Ajaka, who stated this in Akure, the state capital, at the debriefing of the Technical Working Group on Human Pappiloma Virus Vaccine Introduction (HPVVI) in the state, stressed that the virus was the second-highest killer virus of women after breast cancer in the country.

The vaccination against the human papillomavirus was held for teenage girls between nine and 14 years old in the state in May this year in a bid to prevent the deadly cervical cancer.

According to the Commissioner for Health, the coverage is overwhelming, stressing that the government was making efforts to sustain the feat through the regularisation of the HPV vaccine in the state’s immunisation program.

The Permanent Secretary, Ondo State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr. Francis Akanbiemu, appealed to mothers whose girls were within the age bracket of 9–14 years old and were yet to get vaccinated to take advantage of the fact that it would be available for only girls aged 9 years old from January 2025.

Akanbiemu, who stressed that the vaccine was being administered to girls at no cost in government hospitals, lauded all development partners, religious leaders, women groups, health workers, and mothers in the state for their cooperation during the exercise.

One of the development partners, represented by the Senior Programme Manager, Kosi Izundu, said the NGO was impressed with the achievement recorded by the Ondo state government in the HPV vaccination coverage, hence the support.

Ondo State Immunisation Officer, Mrs. Comfort Olagundoye, explained that 321,008 girls within 9–14 years were vaccinated against cervical cancer, stressing that the HPV vaccine was safe for girls.