…Initiate plan to reach 86m girls in 2025
By Hassan Zaggi
In the next 12 months, GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance and partners have concluded plans to support some countries including Nigeria, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, Togo and Zambia with Human Papilomavirus (HPV) vaccine.
Gavi will also continue to work with countries that have already introduced the vaccine to help improve coverage and other countries to plan for future introductions.
This is even as between now and 2025, GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance and other partners have concluded plans to reach over 86 million adolescent girls with the Human Papilomavirus (HPV) vaccine.
This follows the Gavi Board’s approval of the revitalisation of the HPV programme.
HPV causes more than 95% of cervical cancer cases worldwide and is the most common cause of female cancer death in nearly half of sub-Saharan African countries.
Despite the availability of the HPV vaccine in the Gavi portfolio, the vaccine’s ability to prevent cervical cancer, and the number of introductions into routine immunisation programmes, global HPV vaccination coverage for final dose stands at 12% – with supply constraints, demand challenges and pandemic-related school closures hampering and setting back progress in recent years
In the next three years, therefore, 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 revitalisation push will be on three fronts:
The first front, according to GAVI include the introductions stage which will involve providing new funding and assistance to introduce the HPV vaccine into routine immunisation schedules; the second will be the Catch up and strengthen. This, however, include implementing multi-age cohort (MAC) vaccination to rapidly catch up and improve coverage; and integration which will involvepromoting sustainability through the integration of HPV vaccination into routine immunisation and primary health care.
In parallel, Gavi will also offer support to countries to optimise the 2022 WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) one-dose recommendation, which now enables countries to opt for a single-doseschedule for the HPV vaccine. Country-led decision making to adopt and implement the new guidelines, as per country choice, will be critical.
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 optimise 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 programmes 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 programme into routine immunisation 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.
A statement by GAVI, however, quoted the Chief Programme Strategy Officer at Gavi, Aurélia Nguyen, as saying: “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.
“Yet that 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.”
