Vaccinate adolescents against cervical cancer

Ms Rose Eduful, Principal Nursing Officer, Korle-Bu Reproductive Health Centre, has urged parents to vaccinate their adolescent girls against cervical cancer for 100 per cent protection against the disease.

That, she said, was necessary to safeguard the future of the girl- child and secure a generation that would talk about eradicating cervical cancer in the next 10 years.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Ms Eduful said the moment a woman was sexually exposed, screening and vaccination gave her 70 per cent benefit of control and security, hence, the need to administer the vaccine at an early age to ensure total protection.

"The screening is to ensure early detection for appropriate treatment but if we are able to vaccinate adolescents then we will get to a point where we will not worry about cervical cancer in the future," she stated.

Ms Eduful said immunising children for cervical cancer was as important as administering polio and measles vaccines.

For that reason, she said, the Centre was pushing to get support from non-governmental organisations and governmental bodies to put resources together and engage distributors for a cross-country negotiations to get the vaccines for children.

"We are still negotiating with bodies to do something about the cost of the vaccines to make it more available, affordable, and accessible," she said.

It is necessary for girls from age nine to 14 to take first and second doses of the vaccine while 15 and above take the three dosages.

Ms Eduful advised parents to sacrifice and have their children within the age bracket vaccinated to secure their future.

She, however, expressed joy at how more women were visiting the health centre for screening since the nationwide campaign started.

"During a normal routine screening, eight women get screened a day but since the campaign started we get more than a 100 women in a day and I am really impressed that at least the awareness is helping."

She reiterated the need for women who are yet to get screened to do so as soon as possible.

Cervical cancer is the second most frequent occurring cancer in women after breast cancer and common cause of cancer related deaths in developing countries.

Current statistics in Ghana indicates that every year 3,151 women are diagnosed with the disease and 2,119 die from it. It is common in women and girls who are sexually active.

Deaths due to cervical cancer are projected to rise by almost 25 per cent over the next 10 years hence the need for the campaign to allow for more screening.