The first time I heard about Cervical Cancer was four years after leaving University. It was such a traumatic experience for me because it came with the demise of my mother and at that moment our family needed her the most. Just six months after being diagnosed with cancer of the cervix, she was confirmed dead and this happened after emptying my savings and borrowing money to give her the best treatment.

The news of her demise was like a mirage to me and I didn't believe not until I saw her lifeless body. At that moment, everything in me crumbled, I lost my job, a had big vacuum in my heart that no one could fill.

In Nigeria, there are 12,000 cervical cancer cases diagnosed annually, with 8,000 deaths recorded. This translates to 22 women dying from cervical cancer every day in Nigeria. Something needs to be done urgently! 

4 years after the pain of losing my mother is still fresh in my mind. In her memory, I started the “Help the Woman” foundation to help women and girls in Nigeria to detect and prevent cervical cancer.

In November 2020, Nigerian health minister Osagie Ehanire, in a keynote speech at a national stakeholders' forum on the elimination of cervical cancer in Nigeria, said the country would introduce the HPV vaccination into its national immunization schedule by 2021. The WHO has stated its commitment to support Nigeria's HPV vaccine rollout for young girls aged 9 to 14 years, working with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency. 

Three years later, the HPV vaccine is yet to be rolled out.

This is why I am asking the Ministry of Health to expedite the inclusion of the HPV vaccine in the National Immunization program to save women in Nigeria from the scourge of cervical cancer. If Mother was here with us today, I’m sure this is exactly what she would want me to do.

With your help, cervical cancer can be eradicated in Nigeria. Sign this petition and share it across your network. Let us #EndCervicalCancer in Nigeria!