Cervical Cancer: NCS announces date for vaccination in Nigeria

In order to prevent cervical cancer, the Nigerian Cancer Society (NCS) has set September 25 as the deadline for girls between the ages of nine and 14 to receive the first round of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.

The association remarked that incidences of cervix cancer are rising among women and girls in the nation and added that the introduction of the HPV vaccine will prevent girls from developing the disease in the near future.

Dr. Adamu Alhassan Umar, President of NCS, announced this at the second annual education competition of the Atinuke Cancer Foundation, with the subject "Knowledge conquers cancer, let's kill it."

According to Adamu, breast cancer, cervical cancer, and prostate cancer are the three most prevalent cancers worldwide as well as in Nigeria.

He claims that the HPV vaccine is unavailable in Nigeria because of its high price, making it unaffordable for the majority of sufferers.

The head of the NCS highlighted that due to the high cost of the vaccination and the rise in the number of victims, members of the society met with representatives from the government, policymakers, and stakeholders to discuss how young women and girls may have access to the vaccine as part of immunization programs.

“The National Primary Health Care agency of Nigeria will roll out the first phase of the vaccines free of charge to 16 states for now,” he said.

Adamu said the vaccine will go a long way in changing the statistics of cancer burden in the country, particularly cervical cancer.

“NCS is strongly partnering with national health care agencies to make this vaccine reach everyone. Actually, we are starting with 16 states and will extend to other states as time goes on.”

Additionally, Adamu stated that the group was proposing a cancer prevention bill and hoped it would be included in the school curriculum.

He claims that the bill is directed at secondary and tertiary students and is intended to educate them about early cancer detection and strategies to prevent it.

He stated that the president still needed to sign the bill after it was approved by the legislature.

The Atinuke Cancer Foundation deserves praise from Adamu for raising awareness of the disease.

“The Foundation has been impacting so much knowledge into teenagers since they started this annual competition and I must say the foundation has done so well,” Adamu said.

The annual competition between Secondary Schools, according to the event's organizer and originator, Mrs. Tinuke Lawal of the Atinuke Cancer Foundation, aims to increase education, awareness, and access to healthcare.

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