More than 600,000 girls in Tanzania have started receiving vaccines to prevent cervical cancer.

Girls aged between nine and 14 are being targeted to protect them from developing the illness at an early age.

"Prevention is better than cure, elongating lives and and reducing treatment costs," said Dr Daphrosa Lyimo, heading the government rollout.

Cervical cancer is the most common cancer in Tanzania and kills more women than any other form of the illness.

'A lifesaver'

Tanzania is the seventh African country to introduce the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine into its routine immunisation programme, after Uganda, Rwanda, Botswana, Mauritius, Seychelles and South Africa.

The health minister says $15 (£11) will be spent treating each girl.

Tanzania's government hopes the early-stage vaccines will help reduce the bill for cervical cancer treatment, which typically costs about $2,000 (£1,410) per patient.

Low-cost doses of the HPV vaccine are being supplied to Tanzania by the Vaccine Alliance, Gavi.

Poor countries are disproportionately affected by cervical cancer. According to Gavi, the five worst-affected countries are in Africa - Malawi, Mozambique, Comoros, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Globally, more than 260,000 women die of of the illness each year, with low- and middle-income countries accounting for 85% of all deaths.

"The majority of these deaths are preventable, thanks to a safe and effective vaccine," says Gavi CEO Dr Seth Berkley.

"That's why we are working hard to ensure girls across Africa, from Tanzania to Senegal, have access to this lifesaver."

Source:
courtesy of BBC NEWS

by BBC NEWS

If you have any stories or news that you would like to share with the global online community, please feel free to share it with us by contacting us directly at [email protected]