Yobe Gov’t Rolls Out HPV Vaccines For Female Children

The Yobe State Ministry of Health and Human Services and the State Primary Health Care Board (SPHCB) in collaboration with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and other development partners will flag off the Human Papillomavirus Vaccine (HPVV) campaign against dangerous killer diseases and cervical cancer.

A statement signed by the Head of Department, Information, Ministry of Home Affairs, Information and Culture, Ali Musa Yawale, which was made available to LEADERSHIP in Damaturu, stated that the five-day campaign will focus on children between the age of 9 and 14.

According to the statement, each child will be reached at centres in primary, junior and senior secondary schools, as well as different healthcare facilities across the state.

Yawale said the HPVV campaign will first be flagged off at Government Girls College Damaturu and will later be integrated into routine immunisation with focus on female children.

He disclosed that statistics showed that in 2020, Nigeria recorded 12, 000 new cases of HPV that cause certain types of cancers including cervical cancer with 8, 000 out of the number having died from the disease.

The statement them urged parents, guardians and caregivers to take advantage of the vaccines by protecting their wards against the killer disease.