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The vaccination initiative, scheduled to commence by the end of the year, aims to immunize pre-adolescents before they enter into sexual activity, recognizing the urgent need to address the alarming rate of cervical cancer cases in the country.
Dr. Kwame Amponsah-Achiano, Programmes Manager for the Expanded Programme on Immunization at the Ghana Health Service, emphasized the importance of administering the two-dose vaccine to each child. He explained that while previous pilot programs necessitated three doses, recent developments have streamlined the process to two doses, with the possibility of transitioning to a single dose in the future pending the establishment of robust screening mechanisms.
Dr. Amponsah-Achiano stated, “Because we have already done a pilot which was to learn lessons, we will roll out a nationwide vaccination, and our focus is usually on young people before they start their sexual debut. So by the end of the year, we should have started the vaccination.”
According to statistics from the ICO/IARC Information Centre on HPV and Cancer, Ghana faces a significant burden of cervical cancer, with approximately 10.6 million women aged 15 years and older at risk of developing the disease. Annually, an estimated 2797 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer, resulting in 1699 deaths. Cervical cancer ranks as the second most frequent cancer among Ghanaian women and the second most common cancer among women aged 15 to 44.
While data specific to HPV prevalence in the general population of Ghana is not yet available, statistics from Western Africa, the region to which Ghana belongs, suggest that approximately 4.3% of women harbor cervical HPV16/18 infection at any given time, with HPVs 16 or 18 accounting for 55.6% of invasive cervical cancers in the region.
