{"id":3013,"date":"2018-12-20T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-12-20T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cancer.gov\/news-events\/cancer-currents-blog\/2018\/hpv-vaccine-presidents-cancer-panel-improving-uptake"},"modified":"2024-11-03T15:17:32","modified_gmt":"2024-11-03T15:17:32","slug":"the-hpv-vaccine-increasing-the-use-of-an-important-cancer-prevention-tool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/the-hpv-vaccine-increasing-the-use-of-an-important-cancer-prevention-tool\/","title":{"rendered":"The HPV Vaccine: Increasing the Use of an Important Cancer Prevention Tool"},"content":{"rendered":"

December 20, 2018, by Barbara K. Rimer, Dr.P.H.<\/p>\n

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A new President\u2019s Cancer Panel report concludes that, despite important progress, more work is needed to increase HPV vaccine uptake.<\/p>\n

Credit: iStock<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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The President\u2019s Cancer Panel<\/a> was established under the National Cancer Act of 1971. The panel\u2019s charge under the law is to identify high-priority issues that are impeding progress against cancer, engage the relevant stakeholders, and develop recommendations for addressing each respective issue. The recommendations are included in a report that is submitted to the President. Barbara K. Rimer, Dr.P.H., is the panel\u2019s chair and currently the sole member.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Last month, I released a report to the White House and the public, HPV Vaccination for Cancer Prevention: Progress, Opportunities, and a Renewed Call to Action<\/em><\/a>. This report describes the progress that\u2019s been made toward maximizing the use of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine<\/a> in the United States and globally over the past 5 years.<\/p>\n

This new report also presents priorities and strategies to ensure that more people will receive this critical cancer vaccine.<\/p>\n

In 2006, approval of the first vaccine to protect against infection with HPV, which causes several types of cancer\u2014cervical, oropharyngeal, anal, penile, vulvar, and vaginal\u2014and several other diseases, was truly a momentous event in the fight against cancer. By the time I was appointed chair of the President\u2019s Cancer Panel in 2011, large-scale initiatives and campaigns to promote HPV vaccination were underway.<\/p>\n

Initial reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other organizations, unfortunately, showed that uptake was not as robust as it had been for other childhood and adolescent vaccines, with vaccination rates as low as 12% for girls in some parts of the United States.<\/p>\n

In other words, we had a vaccine that could potentially prevent hundreds of thousands of cancers worldwide each year, but it was not achieving the level of uptake needed to maximize its potential.<\/p>\n

When I became chair of the panel, co-members Owen Witte, Hill Harper, and I chose the HPV vaccine as the subject for our next report because we agreed that increasing HPV vaccination rates was a critical issue that had the potential for actionable recommendations.<\/p>\n

The panel\u2019s 2012\u20132013 initial report on the subject outlined four goals to address barriers to vaccine uptake:<\/p>\n