The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Osun State Government have set a target to vaccinate three million adolescent girls against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV).
During a stakeholders meeting held in Osogbo on Thursday, July 10, aimed at strengthening routine immunization for girls aged 9, UNICEF engaged youth, adolescents, and health promotion officers to boost awareness and champion the vaccination campaign.
UNICEF’s Gender and Development Manager, Takudzwa Kanyangarara, raised concerns about the low turnout of 9-year-old girls receiving the HPV vaccine. She expressed optimism that involving young people as advocates would help change the situation.
“Adolescents and young people have a key role to play in changing this so girls are armed and protected from cervical cancer. That is why we are convening this state workshop, so young people can engage with the government and partners and develop a plan for how they will work together to ensure every 9-year-old girl in Nigeria gets the vaccine,” she said.
Despite the successful multi-age campaign that made the HPV vaccine freely available for 9-year-old girls, data indicates that uptake remains low in some states, including Osun.
Francisca Olaore, Osun State Immunization Officer, affirmed the state’s collaboration with UNICEF—identified as the primary financier of the initiative—to ensure the vaccination of at least three million girls.
“Let me start with the number we are targeting—you know the age of each child grows day in day out—but at least in Osun State, we can have up to 3 million of these 9-year-old girls,” she said.
Olaore also urged parents and caregivers to disregard misinformation about the vaccine in order to protect the future of girls from cervical cancer.
In her earlier remarks, UNICEF Social and Behavioural Change Specialist, Mrs. Aderonke Akinola-Akinwole, stressed the importance of recognizing the HPV vaccine as a fundamental right for girls.
“People believe that the vaccines will make them impotent, decrease the population, and also question the safety of the vaccine, believing they are not safe, but UNICEF will continue to deploy messages through trusted voices in the community—messages that continue to reiterate the potency and efficacy of the vaccines,” she said.
