The World Health Organisation says it plans to commence vaccination against the Human Papillomavirus on May 27 in Kogi.

The state’s team lead for WHO, Dr Muktar Toyosi, said this when he led his team on an advocacy visit to the state council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists on Wednesday in Lokoja.

Mr Toyosi said that the vaccination was meant for girls between the ages of nine and 14.

He said the ongoing sensitisation was to keep the people informed and educate them on the vaccination of their children to protect them against cervical cancer in the future.

”Kogi falls within the second phase of the programme. We are soliciting the cooperation of the media in educating the people of the state on the HPV vaccination. There is a need for girls across the state to take the vaccination to safeguard their future. Although the vaccine was initially scarce and difficult to get, the good news now is that it has been made available by the government,” Mr Toyosi said.

Also speaking, the state Technical Assistant for WHO, Dr Ahmed Attah, said that HPV mostly affects women, adding that the vaccination remained a preventive measure against the disease.

Also a former state chairman of the Nigeria Medical Association and ex-Chief Medical Director of Kogi Specialist Hospital, Lokoja, Mr Attah urged parents and guardians to avail their children of the vaccination to justify the government’s investment.

In his response, the Kogi NUJ chairman, Seidu Ademu, described the health sector as critical, stressing that the vaccination was a right step in the right direction.

Mr Ademu promised a robust partnership with WHO to enable the team to achieve its set goals.

He stressed the need to inform, educate and sensitise the general public to the need to embrace the vaccine by ensuring vaccination of girls within the age range.

(NAN)