Schoolgirls first: Ghana takes the cervical-cancer vaccine into classrooms nationwide

Health workers in Ghana are going desk to desk this week. The Ghana Health Service, working with the Ghana Education Service, has begun a nationwide school campaign to give the HPV vaccine — the shot that protects against the virus that causes most cervical cancer — to girls aged 9 to 14 who have not yet received it. The first round runs in schools across the country from 19 to 23 October, with a second round from 30 November to 4 December, under the country's Periodic Intensification of Routine Immunisation programme. The aim is simple and practical: meet girls where they already are, raise awareness of the vaccine among families, and make sure protection arrives before exposure to the virus, when the shot works best.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: institutional program