Parents urged to allow eligible girls to take HPV vaccine

The Communication for Development and Advocacy Consult (CDA CONSULT) on Monday raised concern over growing parental resistance to the ongoing national Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination exercise, warning that the trend threatens Ghana’s fight against cervical cancer.

In a statement copied to Modern Ghana News in Accra and signed by Dr. Chris Kpodar, a member of the Board of Directors of CDA Consult, it said its field monitoring shows that some parents have instructed school authorities not to allow health teams to vaccinate their wards, despite the programme being rolled out nationwide.

The Ghana Health Service (GHS), in collaboration with development partners, has rolled out an impressive continuous HPV vaccination campaign targeting eligible girls.

As part of the strategy, trained health professionals are visiting schools and homes across the country to administer the vaccine free of charge to ensure maximum coverage and protection for adolescent girls.

“The purpose is to reach every eligible girl, whether in the classroom or at home, so that no child is left behind in this life-saving intervention,” Dr. Kpodar, who is a former United Nations consultant for Africa and the Middle East, stated.

Dr. Kpodar stressed that CDA CONSULT monitoring for the progress of the exercise has revealed a worrying pattern where some parents have instructed school authorities not to vaccinate their eligible wards.

He described the act as “a direct threat to the exercise and also exposes the young girls to the danger of developing cervical cancer in the future.”

“Cervical cancer remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths among women in Ghana. Health experts say HPV infection is the primary cause, and vaccination before exposure offers the most effective long-term protection,” Dr. Kpodar, who is also Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Solomon Investments Ghana Limited, stated.

Mr. Francis Ameyibor, Executive Director of CDA CONSULT, is therefore calling on all parents, guardians, teachers, and community leaders to support the campaign and allow eligible girls to be vaccinated.

“Parents must encourage their teenagers to participate in the national HPV vaccination. This is not just about an individual child. It is about protecting the next generation of Ghanaian women from a preventable disease,” Mr. Ameyibor said.

CDA Consult further assured parents that the HPV vaccines being administered in Ghana are WHO-approved and have undergone rigorous safety checks.

“CDA CONSULT also assured parents that HPV vaccination is WHO-approved as well as having gone through the necessary regime assessment in Ghana and is safe for use. The benefits far outweigh any perceived fears,” he added.

The HPV vaccine is most effective when given to girls before they become sexually active, which is why the national program targets adolescents in schools.

Global and national data show that countries with high HPV vaccination coverage have recorded significant drops in pre-cancerous cervical lesions and HPV infections within a decade of rollout.

GHS, with support from partners including WHO and UNICEF, has positioned the current campaign as part of Ghana’s commitment to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem by 2030.

Mr. Ameyibor urged school authorities to cooperate fully with health teams and to help sensitize parents about the facts of the vaccine, rather than yield to misinformation.

“The future health of our girls depends on the decisions we make today. Let us choose prevention,” the CDA Consult Executive Director stated.

The CDA Consult has rolled out a holistic Cervical Cancer Prevention Change Paradigm Advocacy campaign.

The campaign seeks to champion free HPV vaccination and scale up prevention, detection, and treatment towards the elimination of cervical cancer in Ghana, anchored on responsive communication as a weapon for attitudinal change, advocacy for mass voluntary vaccination, and encouragement of a healthy lifeclass.

The CDA Consult Cervical Cancer Prevention Change Paradigm Advocacy campaign also seeks to achieve maximum impact by demystifying the myths surrounding cervical cancer vaccination, screening, and treatment.

The CDA Consult Change Paradigm campaign is based on four main ideas: providing free HPV vaccinations, increasing prevention efforts, promoting early screening, and supporting treatment to eliminate cervical cancer in Ghana by 2030.

The CDA Consult, a national advocacy group, also seeks to combine proactive advocacy skills and strong communication networks to congregate health professionals, human rights advocates, gender activists, religious adherents, and communication practitioners to embark on a new paradigm of advocacy and support.

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