Plan To Protect Millions Of Girls Against Cervical Cancer

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and partners have committed to reaching 86 million adolescent girls with the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine by 2025, outlining an action plan following the Gavi Board’s approval of the revitalization of the HPV program.

Over the course of the next three years, the Vaccine Alliance – which includes country governments, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, civil society, and other key partners– will work with low- and middle-income countries to help even more adolescent girls access this life-saving vaccine. This revitalization push will be on three fronts:

• Introductions: providing new funding and assistance to introduce the HPV vaccine into routine immunization schedules;
• Catch up and strengthen: implementing multi-age cohort (MAC) vaccination to rapidly catch up and improve coverage; and
• Integration: promote sustainability through the integration of HPV vaccination into routine immunization and primary health care.

In parallel, Gavi will also offer support to countries to optimize the 2022 WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) one-dose recommendation, which now enables countries to opt for a single-dose schedule for the HPV vaccine. Country-led decision-making to adopt and implement the new guidelines, as per country choice, will be critical.

Some of the countries that Gavi anticipates will receive support in the next 12 months include Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria, Togo, and Zambia. Gavi will also continue to work with countries that have already introduced the vaccine to help improve coverage and with other countries to plan for future introductions.

In addition to its standard vaccine and health systems support activities, the December Board decision will allow Gavi to dedicate additional funding to help countries and partners reach more girls with this life-saving vaccine than ever. This includes approximately US$ 33 million for enhanced technical assistance for introductions, planning, and implementation; US$ 40 million to optimize health systems strengthening investments focused on effective delivery of the HPV vaccine; and cash support of US$ 69 million for new introductions.

Given the unique challenges of HPV vaccination, such as service delivery, gender-related barriers, demand, and trust – and the need to better understand how best to implement effective programs that reach all girls (including those out of school and HIV+ populations) – Gavi will also dedicate US$ 15 million to establish a learning agenda to support the integration of the HPV vaccination program into routine immunization and primary health care in lower- and middle-income countries. Community engagement across diverse settings, communication, and the collaborative efforts of partners – including civil society partners, WHO, UNICEF, and other partners and governments – will be critical to the success of this agenda.

An extraordinarily impactful vaccine

“The HPV vaccine has amongst the highest impact of all Gavi-supported vaccines, saving millions of lives and helping to protect the future of adolescent girls across the world,” said Aurélia Nguyen, Chief Programme Strategy Officer at Gavi. “Yet there are still millions of young girls who are at risk of contracting cervical cancer, a life-threatening yet vaccine-preventable disease that disproportionately kills women in lower- and middle-income countries. The COVID-19 pandemic and school closures have also hit hard and set back vital progress: taking urgent action to ensure no girl is left behind is imperative from a gender and equity perspective.”

HPV causes more than 95% of cervical cancer cases worldwide and is the most common cause of