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)

The Kaduna State House of Assembly, says it is set to review laws on caregivers to address the issues of abuse and human rights violations in the state.

The Member, representing Kauru/Chawai Constituency at the assembly, Haruna Barnabas, made this known to newsmen on Wednesday in Kaduna at a Care Workers Summit 1.

0.

The summit was organised by Transparency and Accountability in Totality, an NGO committed to enhancing service delivery and fostering social inclusion.

The theme of the summit was “Bridging Gap and Empowering Unpaid/Underpaid Care Workers in Kaduna State”.

Barnabas, who is also the Chairman, House Committee on Health, stressed the need for employers of the care workers to ask the important questions of whether they were adequately catered for.

He stressed that the care workers were equally humans who also deserved to be taken care of.

Also, the member representing Zaria Constituency, Isma’il Mahmud, said that the house was working towards enacting a law that would mandate employers of caregivers to give them the necessary support as members of the society,

Mahmud, who doubles as the Chairman, House Committee on Education, applauded the organisers of the event.

Explaining the aim of the summit, the Team Lead of Transparency and Accountability in Totality, Halliru Khalifa, said the summit was aimed at raising awareness about critical contributions of unpaid and underpaid care workers.

He added that the summit was also to advocate policies and legal frameworks that support care workers welfare including fair compensation.

Khalifa emphasised the need to foster collaboration among government agencies, civil society organisations and care workers to address caregiving challenges.

The Head of Programmes and Partnership of the NGO, Musa Suleiman, stated that the summit would serve as a wake up call for government and other relevant stakeholders to key into improving the welfare of care workers.

One of the participants, Haulatu Kamilu, shared her experiences as a care worker, saying that she was into care work because she had no choice.

Kamilu said she took the job so as to care for her young children who lost their father at an early age.

The summit drew participants from government parastatals, media, traditional rulers, lawmakers, civil society organisations and human right groups, among others.(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)