GHS to begin nationwide HPV vaccination

Dr-Kwame Amponsah Achiano

 The Ghana Health Service (GHS), is set to roll out a vaccina­tion campaign targeted at adolescents aged nine to 14 by the end of the year.

The exercise is aimed at reducing the preva­lence of the human pap­illomavirus among wom­en in Ghana and also immunize adolescents before they engage in any sexual activity.

In Ghana, cervical can­cer is ranked the second most frequent cancer among women and the second most frequent cancer among women between 15 and 44 years of age.

The Programmes Man­ager for the Expanded Programme on Immu­nization at the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Kwame Amponsah-Achia­no, emphasised the ne­cessity of the two-dose vaccine for each child.

“Because we have al­ready done a pilot which was to learn lessons, we will roll out a nationwide vaccination, and our focus is usually on young people before they start their sexual debut. So by the end of the year, we should have started the vaccination.”

“While we were doing the piloting, we had to give three doses, then it came to two, and now we are talking of one, but the one dose is also premised on the fact that we need to have a well-established screen­ing, but we are likely to do two doses because that is the best card put forward.”

According to the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Information Cen­tre on HPV and Cancer, Ghana has a population of 10.6 million women aged 15 years and older who are at risk of devel­oping cervical cancer.

Current estimates indicate that every year, 2,797 women are diag­nosed with cervical can­cer and 1699 die from the disease.

—citinewsroom.com