Cervical cancer is caused by a common sexually transmitted virus. A vaccine prevents infection with it. Ethiopia has given a single dose since March 2024, and vaccinates at age 9 through routine immunisation. A girl who has been vaccinated still needs cervical screening when she is older.

Key facts

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a virus that infects the cervix and other tissues, and is usually cleared by the immune system. Persistent infection with it causes about 95% of cervical cancers (opens in a new tab), on WHO’s July 2026 fact sheet. WHO’s two July 2026 publications differ on how much of that is attributable to types 16 and 18. The cervical cancer fact sheet gives around 76%. WHO’s immunization and vaccines HPV page gives around 70%. Both are published here and neither is adopted.
Cervical cancer was the second most common cancer in Ethiopia in 2024. In the same year it was the second most common cause of cancer death in Ethiopian women. The estimate was 8,159 new cases and 5,007 deaths (opens in a new tab).
WHO recommends a one- or two-dose schedule for girls aged 9–14 (opens in a new tab). Ethiopia switched to a single dose in March 2024. By the end of 2025, 93 countries were using a single-dose schedule (opens in a new tab).
Coverage of the 9–14 target cohort was 49% in 2020, a peak of 60% in 2022 and 2023, and 51% in 2025 (opens in a new tab) (WHO Global Health Observatory, indicator SDGHPVRECEIVED).
Girls known to be immunocompromised or living with HIV need at least two doses, and three where that is feasible.

What HPV is

HPV is a family of around 200 viruses (opens in a new tab), spread by sexual contact. Most sexually active people are infected at some point, usually with no symptoms and no lasting effect. About 90% of infections clear without treatment. Cancer follows only from persistent infection with certain high-risk types.

Progression is slow. Abnormal cells on the cervix usually take 15 to 20 years to become cancer, and 5 to 10 years in a woman with untreated HIV.

Why age nine

The vaccine prevents infection. It cannot clear an infection already present. WHO’s guidance is therefore to vaccinate girls aged 9 to 14, before sexual activity begins. The protection has to be in place beforehand to work.

What Ethiopia has done

Ethiopia introduced HPV vaccination in December 2018, targeting 14-year-old girls only, because of the global vaccine shortage at the time. In March 2024 the Ministry of Health moved to a single dose (opens in a new tab), and a four-day campaign vaccinated 1.5 million girls. From November 2024 a one-time multi-age campaign extended the offer to all girls aged 9–14. It reached more than 6.8 million, taking the cumulative total past 13 million. HPV vaccination was subsequently integrated into routine immunisation at age 9. The 2030 elimination targets are set out by WHO’s Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative (opens in a new tab).

What this means in Ethiopia

Coverage is reported on two bases that differ widely, and both sit in WHO systems. WHO’s estimate for the 9–14 target cohort was 51% in 2025 (indicator SDGHPVRECEIVED). Ethiopia’s own administrative reporting to WHO recorded female HPV coverage between 90% and 94% for the years 2019 to 2023 (WHO immunization data, HPV_FEM). The Ministry of Health reported 96.0% first-dose coverage for 2025 (HPV_FEM1). Part of the difference is the denominator: about 305,000 girls appear in WHO’s count of the target population and not in Ethiopia’s. Neither figure is adopted here.

WHO’s 2030 target and the 51% (SDGHPVRECEIVED) are also measured differently. The 90% target counts girls fully vaccinated by age 15. The 51% counts first doses given across the 9–14 cohort. Different numerator, different denominator, different age basis.

Part of the movement in first-dose coverage is denominator arithmetic. In 2024 the denominator covered six birth cohorts at once because of the multi-age campaign. In 2025 the routine target moved from 14-year-olds to 9-year-olds, a larger birth cohort. So the target population grew by about 143,000. The number of girls given a first dose fell by about 64,000 against 2023. Both are CPR – Ethiopia calculations from the target and dose numbers behind WHO and UNICEF’s coverage estimates.

A vaccinated girl still needs screening, and Ethiopian screening does not meet the standard the 2030 target is written to. That target assumes a high-performance test — HPV DNA or equivalent. Ethiopia’s routine test is visual inspection with acetic acid (opens in a new tab), which is not one. So Ethiopia’s position against the screening target is worse than the 4% ever-screened figure recorded for 2019 suggests.

The screening visit itself is short. A health worker applies acetic acid — ordinary vinegar — to the cervix. It turns abnormal areas white and shows where they are. If nothing appears, the woman is told when to return. If an abnormal area is found, treatment is usually thermal ablation or cryotherapy. Both destroy the abnormal cells. Another treatment is a wire loop that removes them. Where treatment is offered, it can happen at the same visit.

Ethiopia’s programme vaccinates girls only. WHO notes that some countries also vaccinate boys. The aims are to reduce the amount of HPV circulating in the community, and to prevent HPV-caused cancers in men.

What you can do

If you have a daughter turning 9, take her for HPV vaccination. It is part of routine immunisation at that age.
If your daughter is living with HIV or is immunocompromised, say so at the health post. She needs at least two doses, and three where that is possible.
If your daughter missed the 2024–25 multi-age campaign, ask at the health post. The campaign was described as a one-time activity. So the questions to put are whether a dose can be given to her now, and whether a further round is expected.
Vaccination does not replace screening. Cervical pre-cancer rarely causes symptoms. A woman who feels completely well is exactly the woman screening is designed for. Women aged 30 and over should ask about screening even if they were vaccinated. Women living with HIV should start at 25. If screening is not offered where you ask, the next question is where the nearest site is.
Do not wait to be invited. Ethiopia’s screening programme is opportunistic — women are not called in. If you do not ask, it will usually not be offered.