A Cancer Foundation, with the name My Body My Asset has expanded its cervical cancer prevention campaign beyond women to include men, adult boys and college students as part of efforts to increase public understanding of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and curb the spread of cervical cancer in Nigeria.
The Founder and President of the Foundation, Amb. Dr (Mrs) Franca Ajeborsi Eze, disclosed this in an exclusive interview with Pharmanews, explaining that the decision was driven by the need to make HPV prevention a community-wide responsibility rather than treating cervical cancer as an exclusively female concern.
According to Eze, the foundation’s expanded campaign seeks to provide men and young people with basic information about HPV, including its mode of transmission, consequences and the importance of prevention. “We recently expanded our awareness efforts to include men, adult boys, and college students,” she said.
Eze, a Stage II cervical cancer survivor and healthcare professional, explained that increasing awareness among males was particularly important because HPV is not solely a women’s health issue. She said a better-informed population would be better positioned to prevent HPV infections and ultimately reduce the incidence of cervical cancer. “The more informed our society becomes, the greater our chances of reducing HPV infections and preventing cervical cancer,” she said.
The cancer advocate also disclosed that the foundation had provided free HPV vaccination to some university students, including the provision of three doses for some beneficiaries. She urged parents to take advantage of opportunities to vaccinate their daughters, stressing that vaccination, alongside routine screening and public education, offered one of the strongest opportunities to prevent cervical cancer. “Prevention will always be better, less expensive, and more effective than treatment,” she said.
Eze called for stronger collaboration among government, healthcare providers, schools, civil society organisations and the private sector to improve HPV vaccine acceptance and coverage in Nigeria. She said government should strengthen policies that make HPV vaccines accessible and available through public healthcare facilities, while healthcare professionals should provide parents, caregivers and eligible individuals with accurate information capable of addressing fears and misconceptions about vaccination.
Schools, she added, should incorporate HPV and reproductive health education into their health programmes and encourage parents to take advantage of vaccination opportunities. She also urged civil society organisations to intensify grassroots advocacy, particularly in communities where misinformation and limited access to health information remain major obstacles to preventive healthcare.
According to her, the foundation’s experience has shown that the language used in communicating health information can determine how effectively communities understand and respond to public health messages. She cited the foundation’s cervical cancer outreach in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State in January 2026, where she communicated directly with women in Igbo. “In some other communities, we relied on interpreters to ensure everyone understood the message,” she said, adding that health education should be delivered in languages people understand.
Eze identified ignorance, fear, stigma, poverty, misinformation and limited access to healthcare services as major barriers to cervical cancer prevention in Nigeria. She argued that prevention should receive greater attention because many women only seek healthcare when symptoms appear, despite the fact that cervical cancer can develop silently. She therefore called for sustained government support, mobile screening clinics, stronger primary healthcare systems, increased HPV vaccination awareness and health education targeted at rural and underserved communities.
The cancer survivor further urged corporate organisations to support HPV vaccination campaigns, cancer screening and community health education through sustained partnerships with organisations working at the grassroots. She maintained that eliminating cervical cancer would require coordinated action across society. “Cervical cancer prevention is not just a women’s issue—it is a community responsibility,” she said.
