By Obegi Malack
The National Government through the Ministry of Health has announced commencement of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination targeting girls aged ten to fourteen years aimed at protecting them against cervical cancer.
The ministry said that it will ensure that they are all vaccinated by end of December this year.
Cervical cancer is a consequence of long-term infection with HPV. The Ministry of Health report indicates that globally it is ranked 4th in both incidence and cancer-related mortality amongst women, with an estimated 569,847 new cases and 311,365 deaths annually. It accounts for 13.1% of all new female cancers globally.
In Eastern Africa, cervical cancer remains the most common cancer in women with estimated age-standardized incidence and mortality rates of 40.1 and 30.0 per 100,000 respectively.
In Kenya, cervical cancer contributes 5,250 (12.9%) of new cancer cases annually and 3,286 (11.84%) of all cancer deaths annually.
It is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Kenya and the 2nd most common cancer among females.
The government is also targeting to vaccinate at least 30 million people including teenagers aged fifteen (15) years and above with Covid-19 vaccine.
