According to the World Health Organization, Nigeria has the highest cancer death rate in Africa with nearly 250 thousand new cases reported every year.
Moreover, no fewer than 14,089 new cervical cancer cases are diagnosed annually in Nigeria while the World Health Organisation estimates ranked it as the second leading affliction in Nigeria especially among women aged 15 to 44.
HPV types 16 and 18 are responsible for about 70% of all cervical cancer cases worldwide. According to Dr. Gregoire Williams, the Chief Operations Officer for Partnership for Eradication of Cancer in Africa, PECA, 14 million people, including teens, become infected with HPV each year and that infection could cause cervical, vaginal, and vulvar cancer in women and penile cancer in men. HPV can also cause anal cancer, throat cancer and genital warts in both men and women
“HPV infections are so common that nearly all men and women will get at least one type of HPV at some point in their lives. Most people never know that they have been infected and may give HPV to a sex partner without knowing it”, he explained.
However, an advocacy group in Nigeria has pioneered an online campaign to help break the cycle of the stigma associated with cancer patients.
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