Stakeholders Urge Govt To Sustain HPV Vaccine Awareness

Stakeholders under the Girl Effect Nigeria have said their OYA campaign has reached more than 18 million Nigerians and supported the vaccination of over 26,000 girls against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) in five states.

The organisation’s country director, Mrs Boladale Akin-Kolapo, disclosed the figures at the national close-out and dissemination meeting for the OYA campaign in Abuja.

The initiative, implemented in partnership with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the federal government, focused on increasing awareness and acceptance of the HPV vaccine among girls aged nine to 14 while also promoting improved adolescent nutrition.

The five-year programme was carried out in Kaduna, Delta, Ekiti, Ondo and Oyo States to encourage positive social attitudes towards vaccination and protect girls from cervical cancer.

Akin-Kolapo said the campaign relied on collaboration with schools, healthcare workers, traditional leaders and digital platforms to strengthen public confidence in vaccination.

She noted that more than 4.1 million people were engaged through digital media, while radio campaigns reached an estimated 18 million listeners.

In addition, over 315 teachers and health workers received training, and more than 7,800 community engagement activities were conducted, leading to the vaccination of 26,000 girls.

According to her, one of the biggest barriers to successful immunisation is public perception rather than vaccine availability, and she stresses that building trust within communities remains essential.

As donor support for the project comes to an end, she urged governments at all levels to integrate social and behaviour change communication into routine healthcare programmes and budgets to sustain demand for HPV vaccination.

She warned that continued progress would depend on consistent government investment, effective public education and efforts to counter misinformation.

Akin-Kolapo reaffirmed Girl Effect Nigeria’s commitment to working with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Gavi and state governments to improve adolescent health, reduce child marriage and strengthen sexual and reproductive health programmes.

She also called on policymakers to embed community engagement and demand-generation strategies into Nigeria’s routine immunisation system rather than treating them as short-term interventions.

Director of Disease Control and Immunisation at the NPHCDA, Dr Garba Rufai, said Nigeria had continued to make progress in immunisation despite misinformation and anti-vaccine campaigns circulating on social media.

He urged state governments to strengthen local capacity and reduce reliance on donor-funded programmes, stressing that sustained immunisation efforts would determine the campaign’s long-term success.

Also speaking, Senior Programme Officer for the country immunisation programme at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Dr Aruwa Oteri, commended the campaign’s emphasis on social and behaviour change communication, describing it as critical to addressing cultural barriers to vaccination.

A representative of the World Health Organisation, Dr Chisom Emeka, praised the campaign’s youth-centred and digital engagement strategies, reaffirming the organisation’s commitment to supporting Nigeria’s routine immunisation programme.

Representing the implementing states, Oyo State Commissioner for Health, Dr Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi, said the campaign’s evidence-based approach and focus on adolescent girls would help shape future health policies and investments in the state.