Kisumu county targets 35,000 girls for HPV immunization
The lakeside county of Kisumu is targeting 35,000 10-year-old girls in the ongoing Human Papilloma Virus(HPV) immunization by the end of 2020.
According to the county director of health Dr Dickens Onyango, the jab will be given in two doses alongside other routine infant vaccines.
“Today we have given nine girls and we have just kicked off the process looking for all the other girls and every year we will be targeting a similar number,” he said.
Onyango urged parents and girls to participate in the immunization drive and also rubbished all myths that, the jab bears unreversible health side effects.
“Numerous studies have confirmed that persistent infection with high-risk HPV type 16 and 18 is necessary for the development and progression of precancerous lesions to cervical cancer,” he said.
The vaccine is seen as critical to the fight against cervical cancer which is linked to at least 3,000 deaths annually in Kenya.
Do you have any news or article you would like us to publish? Kindly reach us via outreach@t4d.co.ke or howtodoafrica@gmail.com.
