Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health disclosed Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine was offered to 96 percent of girls aged 14 across the country during the past Ethiopian year which ended on July 7,2019.
The country launched the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine at the national level in December last year in Addis Ababa to vaccinate over one million girls who are 14 years of age.
Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among women in Ethiopia.
This may be due to the high prevalence of high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) genotypes in the population.
So far, few studies have been done that showed the presence of HR-HPV genotypes.
The HR-HPV-16, -18, -52, -56, -31 and -58 were the most common genotypes reported in Ethiopia.
The introduction of HPV vaccines in Ethiopia is likely to go a long way in reducing cervical cancer deaths.
However, there are few challenges to the introduction of the vaccines.
The current HPV vaccines confer only type-specific (HPV-16 and -18) immunity, leaving a small proportion of Ethiopian women unprotected against other HR-HPV genotypes such as 52, 56, 31 and 58.
Thus, future HPV vaccines such as the nanovalent vaccine may be more useful to Ethiopia as they will protect women against more genotypes
In a statement released on Thursday, the ministry said more than 95 percent of children under the age of one were vaccinated against the five deadly childhood diseases for the third time.
According to the ministry, about 895 ambulances purchased with over $46 million were distributed to health institutions.
The construction of one specialized hospital, three general hospitals, 99 primary level hospitals, 62 health stations, and 499 health posts is also underway across the country in collaboration with regional states.
Ethiopia has 21 specialized hospitals, 92 general hospitals, 289 primary level hospitals, 3, 956 health stations and 18,816 health posts that are rendering service now.
MG/as/APA