The Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) has given the go-head for the cancer vaccine, human pailloma virus (HPV) to be made available to Zimbabwean women.
MCAZ Director General, Gugu Mahlangu said the authority has concluded the approval process for the two-in-one cancer vaccine.
Mahlangu said: “We received an application for the registration of HPV vaccine which will be used to vaccinate adolescent girls to prevent cervical cancer. We received an application for registration for the vaccine and the authority has concluded the science evaluation process.
“Based on the evaluation, the vaccine was deemed to be safe, effective and good quality, However the policy decision to be made by the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare will be determined by the availability of resource.
“The conclusion of the approval process has been communicated to the applicant and, once the applicant has consented [to] the conditions of registration, we will issue a registration certificate and the product can be used. The process of agreement to conditions of registration usual takes not more than 30 days.”
According to a World Health Organisation (WHO) report, cancer of the cervix is the second most common cancer in women worldwide with about 500,000 new cases and 250,000 deaths each year. Almost 80% of cases occur in low-income countries, where cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women. Virtually all cervical cancer cases (99%) are linked to genital infection with HPV, which is the most common viral infection of the reproductive tract.
The vaccine does not protect against all HPV types and it is important for women to continue being screened for cervical cancer through regular Pap smear tests. The Pap smear test can detect cell changes in the cervix before they turn into cancer.
In Zimbabwe, cervical cancer is the second cause of high mortality after Kaposi’s sarcoma.
Cervical cancer is a type of cancer that occurs in the cells of the cervix, the lower part of the uterus that connects to the female’s private part. Various strains of the HPV, a sexually transmitted infection, play a role in causing most cases of cervical cancer.
The HPV vaccine will help reduce the number of women who develop cervical cance. It is a prophylactic vaccine, which stimulates the body’s immune system to produce neutralising antibodies that kill HPV in the skin cells of a woman’s genital area.
