Cervical cancer immunisation takes off in Kamuli

The Kamuli district health department has embarked on a mass cervical cancer immunisation campaign aimed at protecting the girls against the killer ailment.

The campaign which targets 10-year-old girls in government and private schools had by Friday covered 11,224 girls.

The nationwide exercise aims at immunising girls using the Human Papilloma Vaccine (HPV), in the bid to curb future occurrences of cervical cancer in the next generation of mothers.    

Speaking to stakeholders during a feedback meeting at Bugabula Guest House in Kamuli Town, Kamuli Municipality on Friday, the Dr Moses Lyagoba, the assistant district health officer, said the exercise is running successfully.

"We hit the road and by the close of last week, 11,224 girls had been immunised, and more are in the pipeline," Lyagoba, also the district officer in charge of maternal and child health said.

With 80 per cent of women at risk of having cervical cancer, with early sex being the lead cause, Lyagoba emphasised why it is paramount for girls of 10 years of age to get the vaccine before indulging in sex.

With the target places being government and private schools, the program featured some challenges especially in private schools, where the proprietors and the headteachers protested the move.

"We got challenges in private schools where the administrators hid the pupils, claiming that it is more of a threat than immunisation," Lyagoba said, adding that to overcome this, his office was forced to call in the Police to arrest the culprits.

The campaign follows the rampant cervical cancer cases in women across the country, leading to expensive treatment and surgeries as well as fatalities.