{"id":2000104810,"date":"2026-03-09T16:30:36","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T14:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/?p=2000104810"},"modified":"2026-03-09T16:35:03","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T14:35:03","slug":"new-hpv-vaccine-targets-more-strains-in-rwandas-cervical-cancer-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/new-hpv-vaccine-targets-more-strains-in-rwandas-cervical-cancer-fight\/","title":{"rendered":"New HPV vaccine targets more strains in Rwanda\u2019s cervical cancer fight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hassan Sibomana, Director of the Vaccine Programmes Unit at the Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC), told The New Times that Gardasil 9 protects against nine HPV types, compared with the previous Gardasil 4, which covered only four. The additional strains allow broader prevention of HPV-related cancers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vaccine is administered in one or two doses depending on age, with two doses recommended for women 29 and older. Sibomana stressed that Gardasil 9 is safe, highly effective, and comparable in safety to its predecessor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, the rollout is limited to the four districts to monitor the vaccine\u2019s effectiveness and acceptability before expanding nationwide. Once more doses are available, Gardasil 9 will be accessible at health facilities in the targeted areas, and communities will be informed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith broader coverage, we can accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer. Our target is 90% vaccination coverage, 70% of women screened, and treatment for 90% of those who test positive,\u201d Sibomana said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rwanda has already achieved high HPV vaccination rates among 12-year-old girls, with more than 95% of districts reporting over 90% coverage. The Gardasil 9 rollout aligns with World Health Organization guidelines that extend HPV vaccination to adults, including women who were not covered when the program began in 2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The new vaccine is administered in one or two doses, depending on age, with two doses recommended for women 29 and older.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rwanda has begun rolling out a new human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, Gardasil 9, in the districts of Karongi, Nyarugenge, Kayonza, and Gicumbi to expand protection against the virus strains that cause cervical cancer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000104812,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[151,69],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000104810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","tag-editors-choice","tag-homehighlights","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000104812,"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/00571644_2f257a0810a755692eb79ee673df1379_arc614x376_w735_us1.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":735,"height":450,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/00571644_2f257a0810a755692eb79ee673df1379_arc614x376_w735_us1.jpg","width":150,"height":92},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/00571644_2f257a0810a755692eb79ee673df1379_arc614x376_w735_us1.jpg","width":300,"height":184},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/00571644_2f257a0810a755692eb79ee673df1379_arc614x376_w735_us1.jpg","width":735,"height":450},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/00571644_2f257a0810a755692eb79ee673df1379_arc614x376_w735_us1.jpg","width":735,"height":450},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/00571644_2f257a0810a755692eb79ee673df1379_arc614x376_w735_us1.jpg","width":735,"height":450}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000104810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000104810"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000104810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000104815,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000104810\/revisions\/2000104815"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000104812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000104810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000104810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000104810"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000104810"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000104810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}