By : Joyce Anim- Ayekoo
As part of the government’s efforts to fight cervical cancer,Sanford Health Ghana together with the World Shoe and Samaritan Feet, on Tuesday, March 3, organized a vaccination campaign against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) for about 370 schoolgirls between the ages of nine to 14, at Mankessim, in the Central Region.
Each girl received a shoe from Samaritan Feet, which is the charity wing of the Akosombo-based World Shoe, producers of Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate (EVA) shoes, which are sustainable, antimicrobial, biodegradable and designed for comfort, durability as well as health protection.
HPV is a common sexually transmitted infection that usually shows no symptom, and goes away by itself, but can cause serious illness. It is said to be responsible for almost all cases of genital warts and cervical cancer, 90 per cent of anal cancer and 78 per cent of vaginal cancer, among other diseases.
In October Last year, the Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh launched a free vaccination programme for girls between 9-14 years in Accra and said, the country “sees nearly 3,000 new cases of cervical cancer every year, with almost 2,000 deaths. These numbers represent real mothers, sisters, and daughters who are vital to our homes and communities.”
Speaking at the Mankessim event, Dr Kwaku Darkwa Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Sanford Health Ghana, said the vaccination programme was put together to educate the girl child on HPV and Cervical Cancer as well as partner with Ghana Health Services (GHS) to help roll out the HPV vaccine for females 9 to 14 years.
Dr Darkwa said “cancer is a problem, one of the leading causes of death amongst women in Ghana. Apart from breast cancer, cervical cancer is another, a very stubborn cancer that causes a lot of mortality and morbidity amongst our women and young girls.”
“So, we are happy that Ghana Health Services has taken it upon themselves to add the HPV, which is the Human Papilloma Virus, as part of the vaccination protocol for all children within the Ghana Health Services in terms of the expanded programme of immunisation.”
He said Sanford Health Ghana has also sponsored the vaccination for about 2,500 children already, even before the government took over this campaign to pay for the vaccines, “since then, Dr Darkwah said they had partnered with the GHS to help with the rollout, vaccine hesitancy, as well as education, to ensure that as many as possible, are vaccinated against this cancer so that their future will be cervical cancer free.
Karoliina Slack, Vice President of Sanford World Clinics said the UK has a long-standing HPV vaccine programme with children, and this has resulted in making them free of cervical cancer in that country. She said for this reason, if Ghana implements the vaccination successfully and vaccinates the children at the right age, there is a chance that no one will die of cervical cancer.
“It is very preventable with the vaccine if you get it at the right time. And it is a very effective vaccine. And so that isreally the importance of it because each one of us deserves this vaccine,” she added.
