This week at the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) World Congress 2025 in Cape Town, the Wellbeing Foundation Africa presented research from the Wellbeing Africa Institute for Research and Development on strengthening cervical cancer prevention through community-driven maternal health systems.

Representing the Wellbeing Foundation Africa and the Wellbeing Africa Institute for Research and Development (WAIRD), Zelia Bukhari, Director of Global Health Policy and Advocacy at The Toyin Saraki Global Policy and Philanthropy Office, researched and delivered the abstract Policy and Community-Driven Maternal Health and Cervical Cancer Prevention Initiatives in Nigeria.

The presentation demonstrated how WBFA’s MamaCare 360 midwife-led education and care platform has evolved into a trusted national mechanism for accelerating HPV vaccination uptake by embedding adolescent prevention within maternal health engagement and fostering intergenerational protection.

Alongside the oral presentation, the Wellbeing Foundation Africa’s e-poster, Midwives as Catalysts: How a Community-Based Antenatal Education Model Drove HPV Vaccine Uptake in Nigeria, is also on display in the FIGO 2025 Exhibition Hall. The poster invites delegates to explore and engage with WBFA’s MamaCare360, demonstrating the impact of community-trusted maternal health systems.

As trusted caregivers, WBFA midwives played a pivotal role in vaccine delivery and community acceptance, explaining the HPV vaccine in accessible localised terms, addressing maternal concerns, and supporting mothers to consent to and complete their daughters’ vaccination. Alongside this, midwives also reinforced the continuum of care by guiding mothers toward routine Pap smear screening, linking prevention efforts across the household.

This integrated approach shows how frontline-anchored delivery systems can achieve population-level impact, strengthen health literacy, and sustain behavioural change. By connecting maternal engagement with adolescent immunisation, the model demonstrates that a vaccinated generation of girls may reduce their lifetime risk of cervical cancer by up to 90%, contributing meaningfully to the World Health Organization’s 90–70–90 elimination targets.