Kirinyaga county has started a campaign to vaccinate 32,000 girls aged between 10-14 years against cervical cancer.
County health director George Karoki said the 100-day exercise will take place in primary schools to reach many girls.
He said due to the Covid-19 challenges, the cervical cancer drive had been affected.
The county had vaccinated 11 per cent of the targeted age group.
Karoki said through the aggressive rapid result initiative campaign, they hope to raise the number.
He said cervical cancer is one of the deadliest types with high mortality among women. He called for cooperation from the public.
“We have been going round and so far we are pleased that the exercise is picking up,” the county health director said.
Doctor Joan Paula Bor from the cancer control programme under the Ministry of Health, urged the county to invest a considerable amount of its resources in cancer screening and prevention drive.
She said the county had a long way to go.
Bor said the county had achieved an overall 27 per cent cervical vaccination against the 70 per cent targeted mark.
To help the county address the disease, Bor presented an assortment of kits to help in screening.
She said the cancer burden in the country is still high and encouraged the public to heed the government's clarion call to go for early screening to enable easier diagnosis and treatment.
Bor said over 42,000 cancer cases are registered annually and over 27,000 annual cancer-related deaths are recorded.
Gerald Macharia from the Clinton Health Access Initiative hailed a global commitment that seeks to eliminate cervical cancer.
He said his organization was at the forefront towards fulfilling the goal as over the past 18 months it has been focusing on ways to partner with like-minded organizations towards reducing the spread of the disease.
He urged parents not to shy away from seeking screening services for their teen daughters as the disease is both preventable and treatable.
Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru said the county is ranked among the top five counties with a high cancer prevalence.
Waiguru said, one in 10 deaths is due to cancer, making it the 2nd leading cause of premature death after cardiovascular disease.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
