Kenya may be underestimating the scale of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infections, experts warn, as limited screening and hidden cases make it difficult to gauge the true burden.
Sexual and Reproductive Health Specialist Samuel Kimani has urged the country to expand vaccination against HPV to prevent a future surge in cervical cancer, the leading cancer affecting Kenyan women.
Speaking on Radio Generation on Friday, Kimani cautioned that HPV infections are more widespread than current statistics show, largely because most carriers do not display symptoms and screening coverage remains low.
“The issue of sex is important because HPV is sexually transmitted,” Kimani said. “It is only that with the limited screening that we are doing as a country, we may not be able to actually imagine the magnitude of this burden that we have.”
HPV does not always lead to cervical cancer immediately. Kimani explained that many people can carry the virus without falling ill but can still transmit it to sexual partners.
“Now the virus doesn’t mean 100 per cent you’re going to get what you call a disease that is cervical cancer,” he said. “You can get it and become like a carrier. You’re just transmitting to your husband and other people.”
He also highlighted the possibility of vertical transmission, where a mother can pass the virus to her child during vaginal delivery.
“There’s something called vertical transmission. Vertical transmission is from the mother to child during a normal delivery,” Kimani said. “If you are a carrier as a mother, maybe it didn’t affect you personally, but you can also transmit it to the child if the baby is born vaginally.”
HPV can remain dormant in the body for many years before developing into cancer, making it difficult to pinpoint when infection occurred.
“The virus could have stayed in your body. Sometimes it can stay for 10 to 20 years,” Kimani explained. “So if the lady has the disease maybe at 40, it means they could have gotten the virus maybe 20 years back.”
Because of this delayed onset, most studies examine cervical cancer cases retrospectively to estimate when infection may have occurred.
Kimani also linked the challenge of HPV to broader reproductive health issues, particularly among young people, noting that early sexual activity and unsafe practices often go unnoticed unless pregnancy occurs.
“Not everybody who actually had sex got pregnant. There are the unlucky few that got pregnant,” he said. “So there are so many others out there who are still practicing unsafe sex, but nothing happens.”
He stressed that the most effective way to prevent future cervical cancer cases is to vaccinate widely.
“The only way to approach this is to vaccinate the biggest population,” Kimani said, urging the government to strengthen prevention policies now to reduce the future disease burden in Kenya.
