By Muhammad Amaan
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said it plans to commence vaccination against Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) on May 27 in Kogi state.
The state’s Team Lead of WHO, Dr Muktar Toyosi, said this when he led his team on an advocacy visit to the State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) on Wednesday in Lokoja.
Toyosi said that the vaccination was meant for girl child of between the age nine and 14.
He said the ongoing sensitisation was to keep the people informed, and educate them on the vaccination of their children to protect them against cervical cancer in future.
“Kogi falls within the second phase of the programme. We are soliciting for the cooperation of the media in educating the people of the state on the HPV vaccination.
“There need for girls child across the state to take the vaccination to safeguard their future. Although the vaccine was initially scarce and difficult to get, the good news now is that it has been made available by the government,” Toyosi said.
Also speaking, the State Technical Assistant for WHO, Dr Ahmed Attah, said that the HPV mostly affect women, adding that the vaccination remained a preventive measure against the disease. Attah, a former state Chairman of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) and a former Chief Medical Director (CMD), Kogi Specialist Hospital (KSSH) Lokoja, urged parents and guardians to avail their children of the vaccination to justify government’s investment.
In his response, the Kogi NUJ Chairman, Mr Seidu Ademu, described the health sector as very critical, stressing that the vaccination was a right step in the right direction.
He promised a robust partnership with WHO to enable the team to achieve its set goals.
Ademu stressed the need to inform, educate and sensitise the general public on the need to embrace the vaccine by ensuring that girls within the age range were vaccinated.
