This archive report was first published on 9 September 2019.
As Kenya prepares to start mass HPV vaccination of schoolgirls to prevent cervical cancer, a growing health and economic burden, misinformation and fear are hindering the effort.
According to World Health Organisation data, more than nine Kenyan women die daily from cervical cancer, a sexually transmitted disease that can be prevented with the HPV vaccine.
However, a recent social media post sparked controversy, with some Catholics expressing concerns that the vaccine will sterilise Kenyan girls and cause autism and brain damage.
Despite the Ministry of Health's plans to start vaccinating girls aged 10 in a few weeks, it has failed to educate the masses and quell the very loud voices of misleading anti-HPV vaccine campaigners.
‘Cancer advocates’ with a huge social media following are asking patients to stop chemotherapy treatment as it will kill them, or avoid surgery since it fuels the spread of cancer.
Amid a knowledge gap, rumours thrive, leaving a huge portion of the population at the mercy of patient advocates who know zilch about cancer science and naysayers bitter about an ailing health system.
With few or no doctors in some online groups, the voice of reason is often muffled by the far-fetched ideas of anti-vaccine and -treatment campaigners.
Kenya is the last East African country still vaccinating girls, while Rwanda has almost wiped out cervical cancer thanks to the vaccine.
Many Kenyans trust their clergy, medicinemen, and social media influencers more than anyone else, which makes the Church and social media powerful in shaping health behaviours.
Should the Church shift the debate on cervical cancer to chastity and fidelity, the faithful may be hesitant to have their daughters immunised.
While doing research on the use of contraceptives and sexual and reproductive health of the youth about 20 years ago, I met a 13-year-old girl in one of the remotest areas in rural Kenya, who had had six sexual partners.
Often, I meet a woman in her 20s with cervical cancer and remember the teenage girl, who should be in her early 30s.
Did her early sex debut and multiple sex partners put her at risk of cervical cancer? If she had had the vaccine, then the wrong choices in her adolescence will not haunt her in adulthood.
Kenya, like other 119 countries, is finally taking steps to tame this public health crisis through a mass HPV vaccination of schoolgirls — our only bet for a cervical cancer-free generation in future.
