More African nations focus on HPV vaccination against cervical cancer, but hesitancy remains

African countries have some of the world's highest rates of cervical cancerA health worker prepares to administer a cervical cancer vaccine HPV Gardasil to a girl on the street in Ibadan, Nigeria, on May 27, 2024. African countries have some of the world's highest rates of cervical cancer. Growing efforts to vaccinate more young girls for the human papillomavirus are challenged by the kind of vaccine hesitancy seen for some other diseases.

More than half of Africa's 54 nations – 28 – have introduced the vaccine in their immunization programs, but only five have reached the 90% coverage that the continent hopes to achieve by 2030. Across the region, 33% of young girls have been vaccinated with HPV. But “it is one thing to introduce the vaccine, but if the vaccine remains in the fridge, it doesn’t prevent cervical cancer,” said Charles Shey Wiysonge, head of the vaccine-preventable diseases program in the WHO’s Africa region. He said information must be provided by people ”who are trusted, people who are close to the communities."

For a deeply religious country like Zimbabwe, “the spiritual leaders have so much influence that a lot of our time is taken trying to educate people about the safety of vaccines, or that they are not ungodly,” Ndlovu said.

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