New Delhi, Jan. 27 -- Lesotho's Lishoeshoe soccer club was losing by four goals at halftime against South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns in the final of a regional Under-17 girls' tournament in Zimbabwe aimed at promoting cervical cancer vaccination. By fulltime, the gap had stretched to 5-0.

Yet for Lishoeshoe winger Nteboheleng Leticia Sooane, the result felt beside the point.

For the 16-year-old, the tournament's most important outcome 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 burden most acute in Africa, according to GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, one ...