There has been a low uptake of the Human Papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine in Kericho County due to enormous misinformation about the jab.
As a result they the County government has only managed to vaccinate approximately 77 per cent of their target.
In that regard parents and School heads in the County have been urged to coordinate with the health department in bid to ensure that more girls gets the vaccine.
The County Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) Logistics in charge Dr. Alfred Langat pleaded with parents to rally their daughters for the HPV shot.
“I urge parents to take their daughters to their nearest health facilities to be vaccinated and complete the doses as scheduled.
I also appeal to head teachers to team up with the nearest health facilities to ensure that the girl child is protected against HPV.” He said
“In Kericho County, we are targeting girls between the ages of 10 to 14.
The HPV vaccine offers 95 percent lifeline protection against cervical cancer before they are exposed to the virus,” Dr. Langat added.
He stressed the need for the jab, saying cervical cancer was the second-most common cancer among women in Kenya.
“70 percent of cervical cancer is associated with HPV types 16 and 18.
Cervical cancer is a hidden disease and a woman may not show the symptoms and progression of the disease can take up to 20 years from the time of infection,” he added.
He revealed that so far a sum of 55, 000 girls aged 10-14 years have been vaccinated in the county since 2020 when the vaccine was rolled out in 194 facilities in the county.
By Vostine Ratemo
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