By Joy Omagha Idam
The CEO Chiniella Beauty, Miss Chineye Otabil, has pledged to work with Non Governmental Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), State governments, and fellow Youth Influencers to create more awareness on Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination and promote the need for girls from ages 9- 14 to take the Vaccine on Cervical Cancer.
Addressing the Media in Lagos during the event organized by UNICEF, thatwhich had several Influencers in Attendance, Miss Otabil, declared that “Nigeria is among countries UNICEF is supplying the life – saving vaccine to arrest cervical cancer and protect the girl child. Vaccines are one of the most cost effectivecost-effective interventions for HPV”.
She commended UNICEF, through Lu Wei Pearson, the Associate Director Health, Maternal and New Bornchild Health at UNICEF in New York, for all the global organization’s intervention in child care with special focus on cervical cancer. “Assuring her that we would do the needful as young influencers”.
“I’m personally volunteering to become an ambassador, an advocate of spreading this news to State Governments on the need to protect the girl child, (adolescents) as part of my service to humanity.
As Adolescents girls undergo hormonal changes and , become sexually active, they run the risk of being exposed . to Their exposed to sex without protection by condom or contraceptives, and meet people with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) or human immunodeficiency virus) (HIV). and get infected. Especially for adolescent girls and they have much higher infection risk than boys during the adolescent years.
Miss Otabil resolved to work with NGOs and fellow Youth Influencers to create more awareness geared towards increasing screening in about the need for families to embrace HPV vaccination to take effect for cancer to reduce cervical cancer. While the HPV vaccination is important.
According to Miss Otabil, “Women need to be Screened we still need to screen women and especially women over 40 years when the risk is higher”.