CERVICAL CANCER: OVER 100,000 GIRLS TO RECEIVE HPV VACCINES IN BAUCHI. (PHOTO).

Cervical Cancer: Over 100,000 Girls To Receive HPV Vaccines in Bauchi

One hundred and twenty six thousand girls of nine to fourteen years old are being targeted to be administered Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine in Bauchi State, to guard them against Cervical Cancer come 25 September, 2023.

The Executive Chairman of the State Primary Health Care Development Agency Dr Rilwanu Mohammed stated this in an interview with newsmen in Bauchi on the sidelines of a quarterly Media meeting on Budget Performance.

The meeting, which was organised by Journalists for Public Health and Development Initiative (J4PD) with support from the USAID funded Integrated Health Program (IHP) drew participants from broadcast, print and online media platforms.

Other participants were Managers of Community Radio Stations domiciled in ten Local Councils and representatives of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, World Health Organisation (WHO) as well as the State Ministry for Budget and Economic Planning.

Dr Rilwanu Mohammed who said Bauchi was selected as one of the fifteen states in the federation and the FCT scheduled for the first phase of the vaccination exercise, explained that the state's target exceeds the number of doses allocated and called for more do as to reach the needed population.

He appealed to parents to make their girl children available to collect the single shot vaccine aimed at protecting them against the deadly disease.

An expert with the WHO, Dr Mustapha Mai Iyali, tasked the Journalists to educate the people on the importance of the HPV Vaccine, explaining that it was the only way to protect young girls from contracting the devastating viral disease.

He emphasized that for the vaccination exercise to be successful the right information must be provided to the people, hence the need for the media be steadfast towards achieving the HPV vaccination campaign objective.