Malawi is working towards the introduction of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine which is licensed to prevent adolescent girls from cervical pre-cancers, cancer and genital warts.
The vaccine, which is prequalified and recommended by World Health Organisation (WHO), is given to girls who are not yet sexually active between age group of nine and 13.
Ministry of Health principal secretary Dr. Charles Mwansambo and director of Sector Wide Approach programme (SWAp), Dr. Ann Phoya confirmed the development in two separate interviews.
Speaking in an interview at the opening of the third biannual general meeting of the National Organisation of Nurses and Midwives (Nonm) at Kamuzu College of Nursing in Lilongwe last week, Mwansambo said the country applied for a grant to introduce the vaccine on a pilot phase.
“We applied for the grant to actually get started in a few districts. In fact, we picked Zomba and Rumphi to start with. If we do well in these districts, we can apply for the main grant to cover the whole country.
“Work has already been done. We have a team of obstetrics and gynaecologist and a proposal has been sent to Gavi,†he said.
Said Phoya in another interview: “It is a good vaccine, this is why it is on our planning table, but I cannot tell you as to when it will come into place because the planning takes time. One needs to plan financially, but also we have to plan through training the health workers and how best the vaccine will be distributed within the country.â€
