HealthScapades Episode #5 | About Children’s Day Celebration and HPV Vaccination | 27.05.2024
by Tayo Fasuan
The highlights of yesterday are beautiful to me and kind of nostalgic, too. The coincidence of the children’s day with the kickoff of HPV vaccination in Ekiti State was very instructive to me. We celebrated this particular Children’s Day by ensuring they have a healthy future. It’s a good thing.
When taking my kids out for the celebration, my daughter was also able to finally fit into a dress I designed myself in 2017 as a fashion designer and entrepreneur. I loved the dress so much back then, I refused to sell it and kept it, hoping one day it would fit my baby girl. And it did. You should have seen me smiling ear-to-ear as she donned it.
I then drove her to the nearest health centre and had her vaccinated against HPV. This is another highlight for me. In 2021, at the very beginning of MicroBiotics BioTalks, I did extensive science communication activities about HPV. I invited my mentor and present HOD of the Department of Virology, University of Ibadan, and also a clinical Virologist who has been dealing with HPV for years, Dr. Adedayo Faneye, to give a talk about the infection.
There, the discourse went intensive, about the consequences of not being tested and other alternative tests that could be done, about the limited supply of the vaccine and its very expensive nature, and the need for Nigerians to take the disease seriously. So you can imagine how excited I was, and still am, to know about the availability of the vaccine. My kid should be a beneficiary of this vaccination, and so also should yours.
We rounded off yesterday’s activities by driving her and her brothers to the basketball court within the Pavilion in Ado-Ekiti, and they had fun dunking. Basketball happened to be my favourite sport while growing up, and I was hoping they would like it too.
And they did. Yesterday was beautiful.
Today, get your girls between the ages of 9 and 14 vaccinated against HPV. Don’t let them miss it. It’s free. It’s safe. It secures their future. Good morning.