The Malawi Health Equity Network (MHEN) has urged the government to leverage existing community structures such as mother care groups (MCGs) when raising awareness on the upcoming Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine administration campaign.
The multi age cohort (Mac) vaccination and switch campaign, which is scheduled for October 27 to 31 this year, will target girls aged between nine and 18 years as part of a World Health Organisation (WHO)-recommended catch-up exercise.
MHEN Projects Officer Kumbesi Gomile said MCGs are strategically positioned within communities where the targeted girls live, making them effective in disseminating information and ensuring that all eligible girls are reached.
Gomile made the remarks in Mzimba North during a monitoring visit that was meant to assess the work of MCGs in promoting immunisation.
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“This is a structure that is already in the community and already working on issues such as immunisation services.
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“Again, this is not the first time we have had the HPV vaccination campaign. Last time, these women came in handy. You know, one of their duties is to have a rollcall of the children that are supposed to receive vaccines and, previously, women’s groups were encouraged to conduct these rollcalls,” he said.
Chairperson for Chikhwengwe MCG, Melifa Phiri, said they were ready to raise awareness about the HPV vaccine.
“We just need more information about the campaign to strengthen national efforts,” Phiri said.
The area has over 100 adolescent girls who are within the targeted age range, according to John Saka, the health surveillance assistant for the area.
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On the other hand, Lucia Mbale, who is the chairperson for Mchengautuba MCG, said vaccination campaigns are key to the attainment of national health goals.
The five-day campaign is targeting all girls within the specified age range regardless of their previous vaccination status. The initial phase of HPV vaccination was done in 2019, when some girls were left out.
Recently, the Ministry of Health warned that cervical cancer burden could continue escalating, causing over 15,705 deaths per year by 2030 if no serious attention were paid to the problem.
In 2022, Malawi registered 4,145 cases of cervical cancer and 2,905 deaths.
