The Nyandarua county government has rolled out a vaccination drive against human papillomavirus targeting 8,600 girls aged 10 years.
The drive was launched on Tuesday at the J.M. Kariuki Memorial Hospital in Ol Kalou where over 200 girls from various primary schools were given the jab.
Health executive Njenga Mungai said the vaccination will be carried out at 74 health facilities across the county.
He urged stakeholders including parents, the church, education officials and local leaders to cooperate. Mungai said they had created enough public awareness.
He told residents the jab is not about family planning but the prevention of cervical cancer.
“A lot of research have been conducted on HPV vaccine to ensure it is safe. Many people have said many things about it but as the Nyandarua health department, we want to assure residents that the vaccine is safe and preventive and has no side effects like infertility in women," Mungai said.
He said more than 800 medical practitioners including doctors, nurses and clinical officers had been contracted for the drive.
County director of medical services Martha Mwathi said schools had been asked to take all girls aged 10 for vaccination at the nearest health facilities.
She said 99 per cent of the targetted girls were in Standard 4 and Standard 5 in the 550 primary schools in the county.
Mwathi said cervical cancer was a leading killer of women with 3,286 women dying every year. She said she was optimistic the disease will be eradicated in 20 years’ time.
edited by peter obuya
