• The Kenya Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society is fully in support of the vaccine.
• Cervical cancer remains the deadliest cancer among women in Kenya: killing over 3,200 women every year.
Image: HANDOUT
Eunice Mwende had been going for annual breast and cervical cancer screening from 2015. She only missed out in 2017 and 2018.
A free screening at Uhuru Park in January 2019, showed something unusual and a pap smear was recommended. This led to a colposcopy–examination of the cervix using a camera-and finally, a biopsy.
January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, marked every year to raise awareness about cervical cancer and HPV vaccination.
“My doctor said the results showed I had cervical cancer – stage 1a,” Mwende says.
After coming to terms with her diagnosis, she embraced the next step; treatment. She had to undergo hysterectomy, the surgical removal of the uterus (womb), to save her life.
Mwende, 51, a mother of two teenage girls, has taken the step of getting them vaccinated against cervical cancer.
The Kenya Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society is fully in support of the vaccine.
Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is responsible for more than 95 per cent of all cervical cancers, WHO says. The virus infects the cervix – mostly through intercourse.
“HPV infects and changes genetic material in the cells of the cervix. This can happen over a period of time ranging from 10 to 30 years,” Dr Elly Odongo, a gynaecological oncologist and CEO of KOGS, said.
The World Health Organization has adopted a cervical cancer elimination strategy: to get at least 90 per cent of girls vaccinated by age 15.
Kenya introduced HPV vaccine into routine immunisation schedule, targeting all 10-year-old girls in the country, in 2019.
One would expect that parents would take their girls to get the jab, but the uptake is below target.
As at 2023, just about 56 per cent of those within target bracket had received the first jab. Twenty-eight per cent had received the second jab-as recommended.
Indeed, some parents wrongly believe the vaccine would make girls promiscuous, while others are, also wrongly, skeptical as to the safety of the vaccine, according to various studies on the uptake.
The vaccine is safe and does not make girls promiscuous.
Cervical cancer remains the deadliest cancer among women in Kenya, killing more than 3,200 women every year.
“We, as KOGS, would like to urge all parents to take their daughters for HPV vaccination. It is the best way today to protect women against cervical cancer in future,” Dr Odongo said.
You could be wondering, why age 10 (which has since been expanded to range from 10 to 14 years).
“The vaccine yields very good results when administered before HPV infection has occurred,” Dr Odongo says.
“Girls aged 10–perhaps 10 to 15–are not sexually active and as such haven’t been infected. Therefore, the vaccine will work best with them.”
A study done by Cancer Research UK (United Kingdom) released in November 2021, shows that the impact of the vaccine is reduced when administered at an older age.
The study found reduction in cervical cancer rates of 34 per cent for those who got the vaccine aged 16–18, 62 per cent for the ones jabbed at 14–16 years, and 87 per cent for those injected aged 12–13, compared with unvaccinated cohorts.
The vaccine being given by the government is a quadrivalent vaccine: targeting infection by four variants, namely, HPV types 6, 11, 16 and 18.
Mwende, now an advocate against cervical cancer, says, “Every parent should have their child vaccinated and then make sure they also give the child age-appropriate sex education if they’re worried about promiscuity. It is better to be safe than sorry.”