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Cameroon: Millions of Girls at Risk for Cervical Cancer as Parents Reject HPV
Vaccination

Moki Edwin Kindzeka

   YAOUNDE, CAMEROON - Cameroon says more than 9 million girls aged 9 and
   above risk developing cervical cancer because their parents have been
   convinced the human papillomavirus, or HPV, vaccine makes their
   daughters sterile. Some communities that had accepted the vaccination
   are now refusing it, claiming that what is being administered now are
   dangerous experimental COVID-19 vaccines. The government, doctors and
   female medical staff members are now working to convince parents the
   HPV vaccination reduces the risk of cervical cancer.
   To counter misconceptions, groups of 20 young women move from market to
   market and through popular spots in Cameroon capital, Yaounde, sharing
   posters and tell Cameroonians that the HPV vaccine does not make girls
   sterile.

   Among them is Linda Fonyuy, a 21-year-old mother.
   "I for instance, I am giving my testimony that I received my vaccine as
   far back as 2014 and today, I am a mother of two."
   Forty-year old fruit seller Gloria Amana says she is not convinced by
   Fonyuy.
   She says she will not accept HPV vaccine because a lot of negative
   information about the vaccine has been circulating on social media
   platforms. She says she wants to be a grandmother, so she rejects any
   vaccine that would sterilize her daughters.

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