Ethiopia: WHO, UNICEF Make HPV Move

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) have collaborated with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health to immunise over 1.8 million girls against human papillomavirus (HPV).

Development Diaries understands that the HPV vaccination campaign targeted nine regions in Ethiopia and was administered in schools and health facilities for two cohorts.

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) and negates the good health and well-being components of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

‘Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages’, SDG three read.

Two doses of HPV vaccine are required for full protection against the human papillomavirus, which also causes cervical cancer.

Cervical cancer ranks as the second most frequent cancer affecting women in Ethiopia, according to HPV Information Centre.

Data from the centre also shows that in East Africa, where Ethiopia is located, 67.9 percent of invasive cervical cancers are attributed to HPVs 16 or 18.

WHO said that the vaccination campaign administered the first dose to more than 866,000 14-year-old girls while 970,000 girls took the second dose.

‘Prior to the campaign, sensitisation workshops were conducted for media professionals, representatives from the education sector, teachers’ associations, immunisation partners and public relations officers of health bureaus. Toll-free health hotline call centre staff were also oriented on the vaccine to be able to accurately respond to queries’, WHO said in a statement.

The fighting between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which is the regional government in Tigray, and the Ethiopian troops from the capital means there is shortage of health care services in the war-torn region.

Recall that the Director General of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, had said that the global health body has not been permitted to deliver medical and humanitarian supplies to the conflict-hit region since July 2021, despite repeated requests.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) had also said that a lack of medicines, fuel, and other essential commodities was severely disrupting humanitarian response, resulting in the near total collapse of the health system in Tigray.

Source: WHO

Photo source: WHO/Selamawit Yilma

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