Cephas Iorhemen 
…World Bank to immunize 86 million girls to avert 1.4 million deaths from disease
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday raised the alarm that at least 76, 000 African women die of cervical cancer disease annually in the prime of their lives.
Besides, the organization said no fewer than 660, 000 new cases and some 350, 000 deaths from cancer occur annually, most of which are in low-and middle-income countries which bear the burden of the highest rates of cervical cancer incidence and mortality.
WHO’s Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, and Regional Director, Human Development, Eastern and Southern Africa Region at the World Bank, Dr. Daniel Dulitzky, disclosed this in a statement made available to New Telegraph in Makurdi, Benue, North Central State of Nigeria.
In the statement entitled: “Op-ed Advancing the Cervical Cancer Elimination Agenda in the African Region, the WHO leaders, described the development as “just and unacceptable”, stressing that the organization has the tools and resources to remedy the situation, and Africa cannot afford to lose another generation of women to cervical cancer.
“At the moment, we are losing one of our society’s most precious assets: 76 000 African women die of this disease annually in the prime of their lives.
“This is unjust and unacceptable as we have the tools and resources to remedy this situation. Africa can’t afford to lose another generation of women to cervical cancer.
“The global strategy focuses on three key pillars: vaccination, screening and treatment, and outlines clear targets for each pillar to be met by 2030 to ensure elimination is achieved as per the WHO 90-70-90 targets: 90% of girls are fully vaccinated against human papilloma virus (HPV), which causes almost all cervical cancers, by age 15; 70% of women are screened with a high-performance test by age 35 and again by age 45; and 90% of women identified with precancerous lesions or cervical disease receive treatment, including palliative care”.
Dr. Moeti said cervical cancer is curable if detected early and treated appropriately.
She announced that WHO has updated recommendation for a single-dose HPV vaccine, as well as updated recommendations to simplify and increase access to screening and treatment, have the potential to reduce barriers to implementing this strategy.
According to her, “this has particular importance in Africa, home to most of the countries with the highest burden of cervical cancer and where access to screening and treatment is still limited”.
She maintained that in November 2023, the WHO Africa Regional Immunization Technical Advisory Group (RITAG) urged countries to adopt a single-dose schedule for the HPV vaccine in Africa to advance vaccination efforts, in line with the WHO recommendation in 2022.
Moeti said meeting WHO’s agreed global and regional targets, in the world and in particular the African Region, demands intensified and coordinated efforts by all stakeholders to achieve the 90-70-90 targets by 2030.
She announced that during the 2023 meeting co-hosted by WHO Regional Office for Africa, the World Bank, the governments of Comoros, Liberia and Malawi and other partners held in Gaborone, Botswana with the theme: “Building a foundation for Africa free of cervical cancer: member states, multilaterals, donors and Civil Society Organizations, stressed the need for an integrated approach to improving investments to address gaps in HPV immunization and in cervical cancer elimination across the ecosystem of funders operating in the African region.
Dr. Moeti stated that the World Bank is poised to immunize 86 million girls in low-and middle-income countries by 2025, to avert over 1.4 million deaths from cervical cancer, adding that currently, the World Bank is providing financing for HPV vaccination in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Madagasca, Uganda and Mozambique.
She disclosed that 29 out of 47 countries in the African Region have introduced the HPV vaccine into their national immunization programes and 40 % of the girls have received at least one dose, stressing however that to achieve the 90-70-90 targets, more needs to be done.
