Janet Ogundepo The Assistant Immunisation Officer of the Lagos State Primary Healthcare Board, Dr Adebayo Adeniji, has urged parents to allow their girls between ages nine and 14 to receive the free Human Papilloma Virus vaccine before the end of 2024. He stated that this timeline was due to the policy that by January 1, 2025, only nine-year-old girls will be allowed to take the vaccine in the Primary Healthcare Centres. Adeniji said this during the Town hall and sensitisation meeting with stakeholders and Community Leaders in the Agege and Orile Agege Local Government Areas organised by the LSPHCB in partnership with the Medical Women Association and funded by Pathfinder International, on Tuesday.
Speaking to PUNCH Healthwise on the sidelines of the event, Adeniji said, “Every state has till the end of this year. The National Policy still states that whatever mass vaccination campaign for HPV ends this year. We have started routinisation although they are still in phases, that is the reason we have the leeway to vaccinate girls ages nine to 14 now.
“After December 31, only girls just turning 9 years old would be vaccinated. By January 1, 2025, routinisation has automatically set in and routine vaccines have only a specific age so from next year, only nine-year-olds will be given the vaccines.” He reiterated that parents with girls aged 10 to 14 should ensure they receive the vaccination before 2025, emphasising that this was the purpose of the intensified sensitisation.