BY SETHABILLE MYENI
MBABANE – Prevention is better than cure!
The National Cancer Control Unit (NCCU) has recorded 51 per cent, which represents 49,000 girls, that have received the HPV vaccine.
The statistics were released by the Program Officer at NCCU, Teluleko Maseko.
Maseko disclosed that 49,000 girls were vaccinated in the past six months. This, she said, is a huge achievement because the target is to vaccinate at least 79,000 girls between the ages of 9 and 14 in total.
This publication understands that the country’s first-ever HPV vaccination campaign was launched in June 2023 by Her Royal Highness Inkhosikati La Matsebula. A total of 46 674 girls were reached by 84 nurses who visited schools across Eswatini.
As a prevention program, the HPV vaccine aims to prevent cases of cervical cancer which is caused by high HIV rates and it can be effective if administered before girls and women are exposed to the virus.
Maseko stated that the vaccine has been around for over 30 years and necessary changes are being made after thorough research to improve the effectiveness of the vaccine.
“The recent changes are that the vaccine is now taken once, meaning one shot is enough to protect women from cervical cancer. Before, three shots were taken in a year and it went down to two which once in 6 six months but now they will be given one shot of HPV vaccine,” he said.
He further encouraged parents and guardians to get their girls vaccinated and said that they are grateful for the positive response they got after launching the HPV vaccine.
