Study: State-run HPV Vaccination Promotions Successful in Preventing Cancers

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infections cause 34,800 cancers annually in the US, 92% of which could be prevented through HPV vaccination. Yet only 51% of US adolescents ages 13-17 are up to date with both doses of the HPV vaccine (68% have received one dose). A new study, “Cost Effectiveness of Interventions to Increase HPV Vaccine Uptake,” in the December 2020 Pediatrics (published online Nov. 16), found that HPV vaccination interventions can be very successful and cost effective and could prevent up to 14,000 cases of cancer across the country over 50 years. Most states currently support efforts to increase HPV vaccination rates, but with shrinking budgets for public health outreach efforts, researchers wanted to prove that these HPV vaccination programs were a safe and successful investment. This study, using estimates from the 2006-2017 National Immunization Survey on Teens to examine current HPV vaccination rates, along with previously published research on related cancers, compared three potential state-based HPV outreach programs—a centralized reminder system, school-located HPV vaccination, and quality improvement (QI) visits with primary care clinics. Of the three programs studied, school-located vaccination was the most successful, while QI programs were more efficient when budgets were smaller. Researchers concluded that policymakers seeking to increase HPV vaccination rates should implement HPV vaccine outreach programs, but that more research is needed into how these programs could help improve all adolescent vaccination rates.

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The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.