Niger state Ministry of Primary Healthcare has vaccinated no fewer than 444,658 girls against the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) during its vaccination campaign.

The state inaugurated a campaign on inoculations of more than 500,000 girls against HVP, the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI).

Mr Daniel Jiya, Director, Food and Drugs and Project Manager of the State Emergency Routine Immunisation Coordination Centre (SERICC), disclosed this during the vaccination review meeting in Minna on Wednesday.

He said this achievement had placed Niger State third in Nigeria’s HPV vaccination drive.

“The targeted demographic was girls aged 9-14, chosen because they have reached early adulthood,” he said.

Jiya disclosed that cervical cancer claims 8,000 lives annually in Nigeria, accounting for 95 per cent of deaths among women.

He said HPV vaccine has been proven safe and effective in preventing cervical cancer.

He said the objectives of the meeting was to review HPV vaccine progress, foster collaboration between stakeholders, and address challenges in vaccine delivery.

He emphasised that immunisation was the safest and most cost-effective way to tackle diseases, calling on all to spread the word and ensure children get vaccinated.

Other objectives was to review progress, foster collaboration, address challenges by identifying and mitigating obstacles in vaccine service delivery and strengthen stakeholder involvement.

He, however, said part of the challenges encountered during the campaign was low uptake of the vaccine due to misconceptions and limited awareness

In her goodwill message, Gerida Birukila, Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Kaduna, commended stakeholders for their efforts and urged continued awareness creation to reach areas not reached during the campaign.

Also, Andrea Okeke-Ewewi, representative of Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), commended the efforts in ensuring that over 400,000 eligible girls were vaccinated during the vaccination campaign in Niger state. (NAN)

Dr Odezi Otobo, a Consultant Urologist says there is no medical or urological evidence that constant sexual intercourse and ejaculation reduce a man’s risk of contracting prostate cancer.Otobo, who works with the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), said this at a medical outreach for men organised by Asi Ukpo Comprehensive Cancer Centre on Monday in Calabar.

The outreach which was held at the premises of the Christian Central Chapel International (CCCI), Calabar, is part of programmes to commemorate “Movember. ”Movember, which involves growing of moustaches, is an annual event held in November to raise awareness of men’s health issues such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer and men’s mental health.The urologist who was reacting to claims on social media that constant sexual activities and having multiple girlfriends could prevent prostate cancer, said the disease was either hereditary, caused by lifestyle or environment.“Instead of taking unprofessional and unscientific advice from different quarters, it is important to visit a hospital if you notice anything and for those in their forties and fifties, get screened because early detection is key to effective treatment of cancer.“Prostate cancer is an indolent cancer and can be handled when a man is aware, visit a medical facility and change his lifestyle, not by having multiple ‘side chicks,’ he said.On his part, Mr Yegwa Ukpo, the Executive Director, Asi Ukpo Comprehensive Cancer Centre, said they had to commemorate Movember because men’s health issues were hardly addressed in the society.Represented by Mrs Mercy Njoku, Event and Outreach Manager of the centre, Ukpo said there was something about masculinity in the society that made men thought they had to keep their issues to themselves.“I want to appeal to the men to take their health seriously because cases of men slumping and dying in their forties and fifties are on the increase, we don’t want this to continue.“Also, a lot of men engage in excessive intake of alcohol, others work all the time just to make ends meet without checking their livers, kidneys, hearts and even mental state, this is why we are insisting on this outreach which will be annually,” he said.Similarly, Dr Saviour Eze, Head of Medical Team in CCCI said that they decided to partner with ASI Ukpo because the outreach specifically called out men to be attended to which was quite unusual in the society.Eze said as a church, they recognised the fact that physical illnesses should be handled by those God had placed in the Medical profession to take care, even though they pray for God’s healing.Report says that the outreach which saw men screened for the function of their hearts, kidneys, livers and Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) was in partnership with the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Rotary Club and,Pink Africa among others. (NAN)

The National Agency For the Control of Aids (NACA) says no fewer than 15,000 AIDS-related deaths occur each year in Nigeria.The Director-General, NACA, Mrs Temitope Ilori stated this on Thursday in Abeokuta during an advocacy visit focused on achieving an AIDS-Free Generation and building a sustainable HIV response in Ogun.

Ilori, represented by Dr James Anenih, the Director of Community Prevention and Care Service, noted that approximately 140,000 children between the ages of 0 to 14 were living with HIV. She added that 22,000 new HIV infections were recorded so far this year.She expressed concern over thePrevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT), paediatric HIV coverage remains below 33 per cent of the 95 per cent target.She said hat Nigeria continues to face a significant challenge in preventing mother-to-child transmission of disease.Ilori appreciated the Ogun government for equipping selected health facilities to provide anti-retroviral therapy.She however expressed concerns that the state has a higher prevalence of 1.6 per cent than the national average of 1.4 per cent and the South West average of 1.2 per cent.“We acknowledge the great work your excellency has done in upgrading and equipping selected health facilities to provide anti-retroviral therapy (ART) from 22 sites in 2019 to 28 sites in 2023.“Also, the commissioning of the One-Stop-Shop and Community ART (CART) in Ogun East and Ogun West.“It is imperative to note that Ogun state has an HIV prevalence greater than the national average of 1.4 per cent and the South West average of 1.2 per cent.“There is an urgent need to halt and reverse the prevalence of the state from its current level of 1.6 per cent,” she said.Ilori said that no child in Ogun should be born with HIV, just as she tasked all pertinent partners to compile a comprehensive line list of children affected to expedite the country’s pediatric ART program.“The expectation is to have an AIDS-free generation at this point we are trying to make sure that all hands are on deck.“We’re looking at all of the various resources available to us and holding ourselves accountable so we can do more with reducing mother to child transmission or reducing the number of children born HIV positive,” Ilori added.In her response, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Tomi Coker stressed that the state’s HIV prevalence rate was critical.She commended the agency for visiting and inaugurating an 18-man PMTCT and Paediatric ART committee.She said that the committee would supervise the care of HIV-positive pregnant women to ensure that they do not have sufficient virus to infect their unborn children.Coker added that the committee would also place children who are positive on treatment to avoid the spread.NAN recalls that NACA said in 2023 alone, Nigeria recorded 75,000 new HIV infections and 45,000 HIV-related deaths.This the agency had said was alarming surge highlights significant lapses in the national response to this epidemic.(NAN)