The Federal Government says more than 18 million adolescent girls have been vaccinated against the Human Papillomavirus, representing about 76 per cent of the country’s target population.

The Director of Disease Control and Immunisation at the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Rufai Garba, disclosed this on Tuesday at a strategic policy roundtable organised by MSD in partnership with Africa Health Business in Abuja.

Garba said Nigeria had made significant progress since introducing the HPV vaccine into its national immunisation programme in October 2023, but stressed that vaccination alone would not be enough to eliminate cervical cancer.

“Today, we are around 76 per cent coverage of our target, but in terms of numbers, we have crossed 18 million adolescent girls, which is equivalent to three countries in Africa,” he said.

He said Nigeria recorded about 12,000 new cervical cancer cases annually, with close to 8,000 women dying from the disease each year.

“We see around 12,000 new cases every year in Nigeria, and we lose close to 8,000 women on a yearly basis. So, that’s how serious it is,” Garba said.

The roundtable, themed “Accelerating Cervical Cancer Elimination in Nigeria: Uniting Public and Private Sectors for Equitable Access,” focused on HPV vaccination, cervical cancer screening and treatment, as well as collaboration between the public and private sectors.

Garba said the government must complement vaccination with screening, early diagnosis, treatment and follow-up.

“It is not just the vaccination, which NPHCDA does, but also how we are able to get women to screen them, to catch them early, treat them and follow them up till they actually get better,” he said.

He identified the difficulty of getting healthy nine-year-old girls into health facilities for preventive vaccination as one of the challenges facing the programme.

According to him, the agency has adopted school-based vaccination, outreach campaigns and other initiatives to improve coverage.

Garba also said the HPV vaccine was available free of charge to eligible nine-year-old girls at public health facilities, while private facilities could provide vaccination to people outside the routine target age.

He urged journalists to investigate reports of private health facilities charging for HPV vaccines supplied free of charge by the government.

“All of the health facilities that conduct routine immunisation have HPV vaccines. We give them,” he said.

Garba added that although NPHCDA lacked enforcement powers, it could withdraw vaccine supplies from facilities found to be selling government-provided vaccines.

Meanwhile, the Director of External Affairs for Sub-Saharan Africa at MSD, Vuyo Mjekula, called for increased private-sector participation in Nigeria’s efforts to eliminate cervical cancer.

Mjekula said the country’s HPV vaccination programme had made substantial progress, but gaps remained in screening, treatment and other aspects of cancer care.

She said private-sector participation could help mobilise additional resources, improve service delivery and strengthen coordination among existing programmes.

Also speaking, the Director of Cancer Prevention and Control at the National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment, Dr Usman Muhammad Waziri, said inadequate awareness, affordability and access to quality healthcare remained challenges to cancer prevention and treatment.

Waziri said financial constraints often caused patients to delay seeking medical attention, resulting in late-stage presentation.

He disclosed that NICRAT had introduced the National Initiative for Cancer Early Detection, Screening and Coordinated Access to Network of Care, known as NISCAN, to improve early diagnosis and referral.

According to him, the initiative is being piloted in the Federal Capital Territory, with suspected cervical cancer cases referred to the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, for further evaluation and diagnosis.

Waziri said Nigeria was working towards achieving the World Health Organisation’s 90-70-90 targets for eliminating cervical cancer as a public health problem by 2030.

He added that cervical cancer screening had commenced in Imo State, with Niger State next for expansion.