A Preventive and Occupational Health Management Consultant Ms. Jennifer Nelson has called on the government to make the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination free to save the lives of women.
She explained that HPV, which was a common sexually transmitted infection, can affect the skin, genital area, and throat.
The Preventive and Occupational Health Management Consultant said in most cases, the immune system clears HPV from the body, but persistent infection with high-risk HPV can cause abnormal cells to develop, which go on to become cancer. Ms. Nelson stated this during a strategic stakeholders’ engagement seminar organized in Tema by the Communication for Development and Advocacy Consult (CDA Consult) to discuss the “Cervical Cancer Prevention Change Paradigm Advocacy campaign.
The CDA Consult campaign seeks to lobby authorities for a free HPV vaccination, scale up prevention, detection, and treatment towards the elimination of cervical cancer in Ghana. Ms. Nelson, stressed that persistent HPV infection of the cervix (the lower part of the uterus or womb, which opens into the vagina, also called the birth canal), if left untreated, attributes to about 95 percent of cervical cancers, and that being vaccinated at age 9–14, is a highly effective way to prevent HPV infection, cervical cancer, and other HPV-related cancers. Ms. Nelson said boosting public awareness and access to information and services were key to prevention and control across the life course.
Source: GNA
