Much awaited HPV vaccine arrives
MBABANE – The much awaited Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine has arrived in the country.
This comes a year after government announced that the country will start rolling out the HPV vaccine. The HPV vaccine will contribute drastically to the reduction of cervical cancer in the country.
According to the regional cancer registry, Eswatini has a leading prevalence of cervical cancer. This type of cancer is caused by the HPV. Research has proved that countries that are administering the HPV vaccines have lower statistics of people who suffer and die from cervical cancer.
Last year, the minister of Finance announced, during the 2022/2023 budget speech, that the country will introduce the HPV vaccine to girls between nine and 14 years. He announced that E20 million had been set aside to procure the vaccine. The rollout, according to the minister’s announcement, was supposed to start last year September.
On Tuesday, during a meeting that was held by the Eswatini National Cancer Control Unit (ENCCU), it was revealed that the much awaited vaccine had arrived in the country.
Prevents
Dr Teluleko Maseko from the Ministry of Health, during the meeting with media practitioners, announced that the 80 500 doses of Gardasil*4, which is the HPV vaccine that would be administered, arrived on Monday. This vaccine prevents a majority of cervical cancer-causing
HPV sub-types in the world (HPV 6/11/16/18), which are also common in the country.
He explained that the rollout campaign would last for seven days and would be followed by a three day mopping up exercise.
Since the vaccine requires two doses that should be taken at six months interval, Maseko stated that the last dose would be administered in February next year. The campaign targets 79 000 girls between nine and 14 years old. The Ministry of Health officers would be visiting schools around the country as they administer the vaccine and some selected clinics.
After February next year, it was revealed that every girl who would be turning nine years old would easily get vaccinated in all public health facilities.
In terms of side effects, the officers mentioned that there were minor and advanced side effects that may be encountered after receiving the vaccine dose. They include; dizziness, fever and minor headaches while adverse side effects might include fainting and severe fever.
“As a ministry, we have cautiously ensured that this vaccine is safe and effective,” said Programme Manager at the National Cancer Control Unit (NCCU) Xolisile Dlamini.
Adding, Dlamini stated that administering the vaccine to young girls would reduce the HPV infections and ultimately reduce the number of cervical cancer cases and other HPV-related cancers.
“The vaccination will be targeted towards girls aged nine and 14 years through a catch-up campaign, starting in June this year. The campaign will be in schools and communities to ensure that no one is left behind. After the campaign, the vaccination will be included in our routine vaccination schedule. Our goal for the catch-up campaign is to reach 90 per cent of all girls in the nine to14 age range as per WHO recommendation by 2030,” she said.
She mentioned that the HPV vaccine had been introduced in many countries around the world, including
South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
In 2021 alone, 317 women in the country were diagnosed with cervical cancer. Unfortunately, over 80 per cent of them live with HIV/AIDS while 32 per cent of those women died from this disease. This often happens because the cancer has become too advanced, and has spread to the entire body, making the chances of survival after treatment, very low.
“From this statistics we can deduce that women present their condition very late, and thus minimising chances to prevent and reduce the Human Papilloma Virus infection. Therefore, early diagnosis is key to win this war,” she said.
Costs
Worth noting, it would cost the country E827 993 per patient to treat cervical cancer yet prevention costs E26 267.17 per patient. This means the country is likely to save a lot of money by administering the vaccine than actually treating people for cervical cancer.
The introduction of the HPV vaccine is part of a larger goal to eliminate cervical cancer in the country. Eswatini adopted the World Health Organisation (WHO) global strategy to achieve three targets: 90 per cent of girls fully vaccinated with HPV vaccine by age 15 years; 70 per cent of women screened twice in their lifetime at ages 35 and 45 years with a high-performance test; and 90 per cent of women with cervical disease receive treatment.
While the country had made progress in the screening and treatment of cervical cancer, Eswatini is yet to begin with the vaccination efforts, which are believed, will change the situation of cervical cancer in future.