One Woman’s Mission to Stop Cervical Cancer

Olive Taylor, a mother of four boys, knows the quiet devastation cervical cancer can bring. She lost her own mother at a young age, and it was her grandmother, Mrs. Esther Arkoi, who stepped in and became her foundation.

Affectionately known as “Ma Esther,” she was more than a grandmother. She was a mother, a protector, and a steady source of guidance for Olive and many others in their community. She raised Olive with faith, resilience, and a deep belief in education and hard work.

Years later, when Ma Esther fell ill, Olive found herself stepping into the same caregiving role her grandmother had once played for her. Learning that the woman who held her family together was battling cervical cancer left Olive confused, frightened, and determined to do everything she could. Without hesitation, she left her job to become her grandmother’s full‑time caregiver, accompanying her to hospital appointments, sitting beside her through long nights, and ensuring she was never alone.

Watching a strong woman slowly lose her strength was heartbreaking. Cervical cancer does not arrive loudly. It creeps in quietly, weakening the body and, with it, the stability of an entire family. When Ma Esther passed away, Olive was left with grief and many questions.

Why had the disease come so silently?

Why did help come so late?

Why did it feel like so little could be done?

It was only later that Olive learned something that reshaped her understanding of her loss. Cervical cancer is caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), a common virus that often shows no early signs and affects millions of people worldwide. What shocked her most was discovering that cervical cancer is largely preventable through vaccination, long before a girl is ever at risk.

“That knowledge stayed with me,” Olive says. “Because if we had known earlier, maybe things would have been different.”

Building on the early success of Liberia’s HPV Plus pilot program, which combined HPV vaccination with iron folic acid and deworming medication, the country has expanded this integrated approach across Montserrado, its most populated county.

In October 2025, UNICEF and the Government of Liberia have vaccinated more than 38,000 girls ages nine to fourteen against HPV through HPV Plus programming which integrated the HPV vaccine, Iron Folic Acid and deworming.

Through coordinated outreach, vaccination teams continue moving from community to community, visiting churches, mosques, youth centres and markets raising awareness, answering questions, and providing information in local languages while delivering the vaccine.

For Olive, this national effort felt deeply personal.

“When I heard that this was preventable through the vaccine, I immediately felt some relief. I was very excited just hearing about the HPV vaccine in Liberia and that it was free for girls from age nine.”

Her relief quickly turned into action. Determined to spare other families the pain she had endured, Olive volunteered to join the HPV vaccination campaign. She was assigned as a recorder, documenting the process and supporting vaccination teams on the ground. But she didn’t stop there.

“I asked my friends to join me,” she says. “We helped mobilize as many girls as possible to get vaccinated.”

One of those girls was her nine‑year‑old niece, Albertha Selay, a bright curious student full of promise. For Olive, Albertha receiving the HPV vaccine was more than a health decision. It was an act of love shaped by loss.

“I couldn’t protect my grandmother,” Olive says. “But I can protect my niece.”

Where one generation had no warning, the next now has protection. For Olive, every girl reached through the HPV vaccination campaign represents a future spared from the pain her family endured.

UNICEF, alongside the Ministry of Health and county health teams, continues working hand‑in‑hand to inform communities, vaccinate girls, and restore hope for a healthier future.

For every girl, a healthy future. For every girl, the HPV vaccine.