On the Path to Prevention from the St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program

The school year has recently ended or is winding down in many parts of the country. Now is the perfect time for parents and caregivers to begin preparing for the next school year. As part of our planning in the St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program, our team recently spoke with pediatricians, a family physician, a pediatric oncologist and a physician assistant. We talked about the back-to-school season. Each provider suggested ways parents and caregivers can prepare now for a successful start to the school year. We hope this information will be useful to you in your communication with your networks.

In a related offering, Julia Brown of the St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program team and her daughter, Alana, recently recorded Alana’s visit to get vaccinated at age 9. Alana is truly a role model for a 9-year-old who gets vaccinated. And her mother and family are truly role models for protecting her today for the future. In addition to the excerpt in this month’s newsletter, you can access the blog and video to learn more.

There is always a lot to share in our monthly newsletter. We hope you will have a chance to check out some of our other updates as well, including our work to identify actions to improve HPV vaccination coverage within rural communities.

HPV vaccination is cancer prevention.

Summer is here. This is a time when families prepare for vacation and spend time with their loved ones. It is never too early to also prepare children to receive recommended vaccinations for the upcoming school year. Parents and caregivers should talk with their child’s health care providers about the importance of HPV vaccination and how it can protect their children from HPV cancers in the future. However, a recently published study by Eric Adjei Boakye, PhD and colleagues shows potential reasons why some parents are still hesitant to vaccinate their children against HPV.

In the study, the authors reviewed NIS-Teen survey data from 2010 to 2020 to find out the reasons why parents were not vaccinating their children. The results identified the top 5 reasons for not vaccinating as:

“not necessary”
“safety concerns”
“lack of recommendation”
“lack of knowledge”

“not sexually active”

They also found parents citing “safety or side effects” increased throughout the study period. These results are similar to previously published research by Kalyani Sonawane, PhD and colleagues who found an urgent need to address HPV vaccination safety concerns among parents. Anne Rositch, PhD, MSPH and colleagues also found a need to understand levels of HPV vaccination hesitancy among parents and intervene accordingly in an article published last year.

In the May 2023 newsletter, we highlighted the new UNICEF report showing the largest sustained backslide in childhood vaccinations in 30 years. All of us play a role in building confidence in HPV and other routinely recommended vaccines.

The St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program recently convened a “think tank” to inform actions to improve HPV vaccination coverage within rural communities. In simplest terms, the reason for this think tank is because in rural areas of the United States, people experience higher rates of HPV cancers and have lower HPV vaccination coverage as compared to people living in more urban areas. Rural life is a choice made by 1 in 5 people, but they do not choose to be at higher risk of cancers, including HPV cancers. We must do more to make sure those living in rural America are protected too.

A think tank is a group organized for interdisciplinary discussion and debate to provide advice to inform action. Think tanks can create social and intellectual settings for people to dig deep into challenging issues, establish common ground and move an agenda forward that seeks to address the challenge.

Learn more here

We invite guest contributors to share information on how they are working to improve HPV vaccination in rural areas. If you are interested in contributing or learning more about our efforts to improve HPV vaccination with rural communities, please email us at PreventHPV@stjude.org.

Alabama

The O’NEAL Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham will host their 2023 Community Dissemination Institute on August 21-23. The event is for academic and community partners working together to improve health equity in cancer education, screening and treatment. The St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program team looks forward to participating and supporting the Institute as an exhibitor and a presenter.

Arkansas

The Arkansas Immunization Summit is an annual educational event for immunization leaders and health care providers from around the state of Arkansas and the region who want to address and improve vaccination issues. This year's event will be held on August 4 at the Wyndham Hotel in North Little Rock. Learn more and register.

HPV Vaccination Roundtable of the Southeast

The HPV Vaccination Roundtable of the Southeast will host two trainings and technical assistance opportunities this fall. The planning committee is also hosting an in-person meeting in early December following up from the March, April and May state meeting series. The in-person event will allow HPV vaccination and cancer prevention organizations and coalitions to spend time together and collaborate. Attendees will share information, generate ideas and stimulate action to improve HPV vaccination in the southeastern U.S.

Visit the HPV Vaccination Roundtable of the Southeast website at stjude.org/southeast-roundtable. Join the Listserv here to receive the latest information about the roundtable. Email PreventHPV@stjude.org with any questions.

Memphis and Shelby County, Tennessee

2023 Memphis Pride Festival

The 2023 Memphis Pride Festival was held June 3 to inspire, educate, commemorate and unify the diverse communities that make up the LGBTQIA+ spectrum. This year, the St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program participated as an exhibitor to share information and resources about HPV vaccination and HPV cancer prevention.

Many of the estimated 60,000 PRIDE attendees visited our exhibit booth. While some attendees were already vaccinated and aware of the importance of HPV vaccination to prevent HPV cancers, we identified a need to seek opportunities to provide education to LGBTQIA+ communities, including access to care.

HPV in the LGBTQIA+ community is significant. LGBTQIA+ people appear to have low HPV vaccination coverage and are at high risk for HPV. They experience high HPV disease burden, including HPV cancers, and face many barriers to HPV cancer prevention. The National LGBT Cancer Network has additional information and links to resources.

Back-to-School Community Immunization Events

Le Bonheur Children’s, UTHSC, Shelby County Health Department, Memphis Shelby County Schools, Latino Memphis, St. Jude and others are hosting several community immunization events to help kids get caught up on their required school vaccines.

The dates for the immunization events are July 29, Aug. 5 and Sept. 30. The events will be held at the Teaching and Learning Academy, 2485 Union Ave, Memphis, TN 38112.

Volunteers are needed, sign up here to volunteer.

In early June, the HPV Cancer Prevention Program welcomed Cristóbal Valdebenito, MA as a program coordinator. For the past six years, before joining St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Cristóbal worked as a coordinator of a health education program focused on Spanish speakers and managed a team dedicated to HIV-STI prevention in southwest Tennessee. Through his work with community leaders and organizations, Cristóbal hopes to increase HPV vaccination rates and eventually eliminate HPV-associated cancers. Cristóbal has his master’s degree in language, literature and translation, focusing on English-to-Spanish health communication.

When not at work, Cristóbal likes to spend time with his family, play chess and engage in physical activity. He is currently training for the St. Jude marathon in December.

July is here, and so is summertime fun! The St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program team shared answers to the question: “If you could be one age forever, what age would you choose and why?”

"I wouldn’t want to be any specific age forever. I have such precious memories from every age and have learned and grown from valuable experiences with each year. "– Julia Brown, program manager

"If I could choose one age forever, it would be my current age because my kids are still small, and I love their innocence and curiosity about life during this stage." – Karlisa Cryer, medical content writer

"If I had to choose one age forever, I would love to go back to my childhood days. Those were the times when all my family members were together, and we celebrated every festival together. Now, we all live in different parts of the world, and we have to wait for several months and years just to see each other and have dinner together. I wish I could just go back to those old days and capture those sweetest memories from my childhood that always make me smile and feel good. " – Pragya Gautam Poudel, postdoctoral fellow

"I would go back to my childhood days. I miss my summertime fun with my cousins and not having to worry about paying bills.” – Portia Knowlton, program coordinator

"I would choose four years old. I got to watch my two older brothers go to school when I didn’t have to."– Ursula Leflore, administrative specialist

"If I had to choose one age forever, it would be sometime in my 20s because it has been fun to learn, explore and grow during this time."– Duha Magzoub, program coordinator

“I have enjoyed several periods in time, but I would stay here in the gift of today. There is so much to enjoy."– Carol Minor, program coordinator

"I have enjoyed all my years of living on this earth. I will say that I was more cavalier during those first years of college, right out of high school. I enjoyed exploring new ideas, practices and discoveries. I have never stopped."– Andrea Stubbs, administrative director

"I would choose any of my teenage years because I had enough free time to enjoy outdoor activities and learn new hobbies. " – Cristóbal Valdebenito, program coordinator

"Like Andrea, I have really enjoyed all my years. I have learned and grown at every age. So, like Julia, I would not want to be any one age forever. I am happy to take on each year of my life as it comes." – Heather Brandt, director

The St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program’s Path to a Bright Future campaign spotlights the benefits of on-time HPV vaccination to prevent cancer in children ages 9–12. The campaign also raises awareness of the dangers of HPV pre-cancers and cancers.

Join us:

Get your child vaccinated against HPV by their 13th birthday: If you or your child is in the recommended age range (ages 9–26 and possibly until age 45), get vaccinated.
Encourage others to get their children vaccinated: Normalize HPV vaccination as cancer prevention.
Share the facts: HPV vaccination is safe, effective, and durable. It prevents 6 types of cancer.

Learn more and join the campaign.