NORTON, Zimbabwe (AP) — Lesotho’s Lishoeshoe soccer club was trailing by four goals at halftime against South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns in the final of a regional under-17 girls’ tournament in Zimbabwe to promote cervical cancer vaccination. By full time, the gap had stretched to 5-0.
However for Lishoeshoe Nteboheleng winger Leticia Sooane, the result was felt at the point.
For the 16-year-old, the most important result of the tournament had little to do with goalmouth scrambles or final-whistle disappointment. Instead, it was about building confidence among girls to trust the HPV vaccine and prevent a disease that kills a woman every two minutes globally — with the most acute burden in Africa, according to GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, one of the organizers of the tournament.
“Participating in the tournament was very good because we had to learn and spread (the message) even though we didn’t win the final. So it was a good experience,” said Sooane as she waited to collect her finalist’s medal in a rain-soaked stadium in Norton, on the outskirts of the Zimbabwean capital, Harare.
Sooane was among around 200 girls from six countries who took part in the CAF under-17 girls tournament in December, organized by Africa’s football governing body CAF together with the European football body, GAVI and health ministries from several African countries.
Called the Goal Getters campaign, the initiative was first seen in Tanzania and Eswatini earlier last year before moving to Zimbabwe in December, using football to build awareness and confidence in the HPV vaccine.
Offered free, the HPV vaccine being given to girls aged 9 to 14 can prevent up to 90% of cervical cancer cases, saving families thousands of dollars in treatment costs later in life if girls are not vaccinated, according to GAVI.
A campaign mixes sport and health
After setbacks caused by the COVID-19 lockdown and patchy national vaccination programs, Africa has intensified the HPV vaccination effort in recent years. Coverage for at least one dose of the HPV vaccine rose to 40% in 2023 from 28% the previous year, second only to North, Central and South America, driven by expanded campaigns supported by governments and GAVI, according to the World Health Organization.
The girls’ soccer league is a key part of that effort, GAVI spokesman Olly Cann said.
“One of the great aspects of the Goal Getters campaign is that it allows us to combine two things that teenage girls are passionate about, one is sport and the other is health,” said Cann. “This creates a really safe space where girls can feel trusted, they can feel safe, they can also feel empowered.”
The launch of the campaign mixed dance and song before the eight-team tournament began. On the other hand, the mothers entered a nearby clinic, some drawn by the opportunity to see well-known women’s football figures, while also vaccinating their children against HPV.
HPV, or human papillomavirus, is a common sexually transmitted virus and the primary cause of cervical cancer. While most infections clear up naturally, some persist and can lead to cancer years later.
Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women worldwide, killing around 350,000 women each year, according to the WHO. Africa accounts for nearly a quarter of global deaths, and 19 of the 20 most affected countries are in sub-Saharan Africa, Cann said.
Zimbabwe is among the five countries with the highest burden on the continent. Cervical cancer is the most common cancer among women in the country of 15 million people and kills around 2,000 women a year, according to the national cancer registry.
Ahead of the girls’ tournament, Zimbabwe introduced a single-dose HPV vaccine, a change authorities hope will boost uptake after the two-dose regimen rolled out nationally in 2018.
‘There are many misconceptions’
Misinformation and stigma around reproductive health remain major barriers. On a recent weekend in January, just two 10-year-old girls turned up for vaccinations at the Budiriro Polyclinic in one of Harare’s densely populated townships – a pattern that health officials say is common, forcing most HPV vaccinations to be given by schools instead.
“Many families are not bringing their children to the clinic to be vaccinated,” said Barbara Mashonga, the nurse in charge of community mobilization at the clinic. “Even when we follow in schools, some refuse. The biggest challenge is religious belief.”
“Some parents think the injections are a secret method of family planning that prevents their children from having babies,” she said. “There are a lot of misconceptions, which is why health education is a big part of the campaign.”
Officials say football-based initiatives can help close that gap.
“We are embracing these opportunities so that our communities can become better because of football,” said Nqobile Magwizi, president of the Zimbabwe football association, as celebrations broke out for tournament winners Mamelodi Sundowns.
For Sooane, the message went beyond the final score.
“Cancer is a big disease, so every child should get the vaccine so they can be protected,” she said. “So we all came here to learn about it so we can keep our health intact.”
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