The Ministry of Health has warned that cervical cancer burden could continue escalating, causing over 15,705 deaths per year by 2030, if no serious attention is paid to the problem.
Currently, Malawi records about 2300 new cases with an average of 1,600 deaths per year.
This was disclosed in Mzuzu City during an orientation meeting on the impending human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine administration exercise, which the country wants to roll out from October 27 to 31, 2025.
Mzimba North District Health Promotions Officer Sella Moyo said the HPV multi age cohort (Mac) vaccination and switch campaign is targeting girls aged between nine and 18 years as a catch-up exercise as recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Moyo said the five-day campaign is targeting all girls within the specified age range regardless of their previous vaccination status.
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“Since the introduction of HPV vaccination in 2019, coverage has been low, leaving a large number of adolescent girls unvaccinated,” Moyo said.
Speaking on the issue, Mzimba North District Senior Health Promotions Officer Lovemore Kawayi said while vaccination for Mzimba North was around 67 percent, there was a need to do more.
“Therefore, this campaign will help us improve our coverage levels because we expect to reach people we failed to meet before. So far, we have already trained all teachers and health surveillance assistants that were targeted in Mzimba North,” Kawayi said.
Malawi ranks second in cervical cancer incidence globally (70.9/100,000) and first in mortality (54.1/100,000).
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Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths and accounted for 37 percent of all new cancer cases among females in Malawi in 2020.
In 2022, Malawi registered 4,145 cases of cervical cancer and 2,905 deaths.
