adminTafadzwa Ndlovu Herald Reporter
Government will start distributing the first consignment of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine to young girls by end of March to combat cervical cancer.Speaking after a tour of the central vaccines’ stores at Parirenyatwa Group of OF Hospitals on Tuesday, director of Epidemiology and Diseases Control in the Ministry of Health and Child Care Dr Portia Manangazira said the vaccine would be given to girls before they are sexually active.
“We want to give the first dose of HPV before the end of this first term. Our target is these young girls and we want to make sure that the drug is accessible by every one of them.”
She said construction of the stores was almost complete.
“In the past, we only targeted the six killer diseases but today we have added other vaccines including HPV and rotavirus that require more space because some of these vaccines come with a lot of volume and logistics that go with their delivery. Vaccines need to be in places with narrow temperatures for them to be safe,” she said.
Dr Manangazira said it was important to upgrade provincial vaccines’ stores for easy accessibility by users. Cervical cancer remains the biggest killer at 30,2 percent, breast 12,4 percent, kaposi sarcoma 7,7 percent and non-melanoma skin cancer 6,4 percent.
Among young girls, kidney cancer is relatively high at 22,6 percent followed by retinoblastoma at 13,1 percent, brain and nervous system cancer 10,7 percent, and leukaemia 9,5 percent.
Online Reporter