…By implementing HPV vaccination for the girl child
BY OWETHU DLAMINI
MBABANE– Prevention is better than the cure!
The Ministry of Health is set to embark on mitigating cervical cancer in the country as it has planned to implement a rollout for the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination.
This follows the allocation of the vaccination rollout in the 2022/2023 national budget. According to Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the vaccine is administered differently for people of different ages. For young people in particular, it can be administered at nine years and a two dose series is taken into place. The duration between these two doses is six to twelve months.
The HPV Information Centre states, in estimations for the year 2020, that about 341 new cervical cancer cases are diagnosed annually in the country and cervical cancer ranks as the first leading cause of female cancer in Eswatini.
During an interview with Mgcineni Ndlangamandla, who is a Sexual Reproduction Health (SRH) Officer in the Ministry of Health, explained how during a rollout program, members of the public were usually made aware of what is to take place and the purpose for it. He said this took place so that people would be fully aware of how the vaccine would assist them and answer any other questions they had about the implementation.
“At times, there may be hesitation from the public especially because this is a new vaccine to Eswatini, but it is supposed to be administered under a certain period of time. This allows observation from the person administering the vaccine until the person taking the vaccine reaches a certain age which allows them to take a second dose,” said Ndlangamandla.
Ndlangamandla mentioned that this also allowed the effectiveness of the vaccination to be observed.
According to the Cancer Council, the vaccine is highly effective. The website states that the HPV vaccine provides almost 100 per cent protection from nine HPV types if all doses are received at the correct intervals and if it is given before a person has an infection with these types.
