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

It’s the holiday season. In the United States, dozens of holidays are celebrated from November through January representing the rich cultural heritage of the people who make up our country. This is a time of year when people gather to share traditions. This also is an ideal time for conversations to normalize HPV vaccination as cancer prevention and also share the news that HPV vaccination starts at age 9. These conversations can sometimes be hard to have, but if you are receiving this newsletter, I am guessing you are supportive of HPV vaccination. We are the majority, and we can reclaim the narrative in our conversations with family members and friends – HPV vaccination is cancer prevention. Period. If you need some tips, check out this resource on handling tough conversations with loved ones.

We have space remaining in the upcoming in-person meeting of the HPV Vaccination Roundtable of the Southeast on January 22-23, 2024 at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. Register today while there is still space available. We will be cooking up success because we are the key ingredients for HPV cancer prevention.

We are working on our lineup of virtual programming for International HPV Awareness Day 2024 on March 4. We have included some initial information on what is to come. We will release more details and share the registration link in the January 2024 newsletter.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful end to 2023!

HPV vaccination is cancer prevention.

As always, if you have information for us to share in our monthly e-newsletter, please contact us at PreventHPV@stjude.org.

HPV Vaccination Starts at Age 9

The St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program holiday card this year focuses on starting HPV vaccination at age 9. Starting at age 9 is critical to on-time HPV vaccination by the 13th birthday. The ACS National HPV Vaccination Roundtable has an excellent collection of ready-to-use resources to promote starting HPV vaccination at age 9. Check out nine reasons to start HPV vaccination at age 9. In addition, new research reinforces the recommendation to start HPV vaccination at age 9. Access the resources here.

Giving a strong recommendation for HPV vaccination at age 9 will increase vaccine completion success and prevent more cancers. When having conversations with family and friends this holiday season, be sure to mention the importance of on-time HPV vaccination.

Improving Rural HPV Vaccination in the U.S.

November 16 marked the celebration of National Rural Health Day, an occasion embraced with commitment by the St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program. To commemorate this day, the program launched a targeted communication campaign, reaching out to supporters and friends across rural communities to engage and inform, leveraging diverse communication channels. The campaign included a special edition of the monthly newsletter, series of social media posts, informative LinkedIn article, and offered downloadable images, providing easy-to-share visual resources you can access by visiting stjude.org/hpvrural.

Central to the initiative was the promotion of valuable resources aimed at preventing HPV cancers with rural communities. These included sharing resources developed by the St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program.

Website: stjude.org/hpvrural
January 2023: St. Jude Rural HPV Vaccination Introductory Meeting recording and materials
March 2023: Improving HPV Cancer Prevention with Rural Communities recording
Wide Open Spaces articles are available at stjude.org/hpvrural – read the latest article here.

Quarterly Updates Meeting: November 29

The latest quarterly updates meeting was held on November 29. During this meeting, we provided more details about St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program rural HPV vaccination resources and highlighted the pivotal work of the Rural HPV Vaccination Think Tank. After four productive meetings, the Think Tank informed the development of recommendations focusing on six key priority areas to increase HPV vaccination coverage with rural communities. The meeting included updates on progress.

Promote starting HPV vaccination at age 9 in rural communities.
Compile and share existing resources for addressing HPV vaccination with rural communities.
Develop or adapt health care provider and health care professional HPV vaccination training resources for those serving rural communities.
Explore policy influences on HPV vaccination in rural areas.
Develop, test, and disseminate easy-to-use messages for rural audiences.
Review and update existing resources and data on HPV vaccination and HPV cancers in rural communities.

The meeting also included presentations by Christina Turpin with the ACS National HPV Vaccination Roundtable and Jennifer Nkonga with the American Cancer Society. They described national partnership efforts focused on addressing HPV vaccination with rural communities, including starting HPV vaccination at age 9 and additionally impactful programming.

Access the unedited version of the meeting recording here.

The St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program remains committed to strengthening HPV vaccination coverage with rural communities into 2024 and beyond. Join the next quarterly updates meeting on February 21, 2024, from 1 – 2 p.m. Central Time. Register here.

Join our efforts to improve rural HPV vaccination coverage.

Visit the stjude.org/hpvrural website or sign up here to receive the latest information on our rural HPV coverage efforts, and email PreventHPV@stjude.org with any questions.

The HPV Vaccination Roundtable of the Southeast reconvened in fall 2022 and has delivered virtual programing and planning for an in-person meeting in January 2024. This effort if focused on improving HPV vaccination coverage in the southeastern U.S. Learn more at stjude.org/southeast-roundtable.

January 22-23, 2024: Cooking Up Success, In-person Meeting of the HPV Vaccination Roundtable of the Southeast

Register for the inaugural meeting of the Southeast Roundtable on January 22-23, 2024, at St. Jude in Memphis, Tennessee. Registration is open, as space allows, and there is no registration fee. The meeting will bring together people working across Southeastern states to improve HPV vaccination coverage. This meeting is an opportunity for sharing successes and challenges, generating ideas, and promoting action to improve HPV vaccination in the Southeastern U.S. by identifying strategies for collective impact.

Click here to register as an HPV Roundtable Attendee .

Prior to the in-person meeting, the HPV Vaccination Roundtable of the Southeast will host a virtual pre-meeting on January 10, 2024, from noon - 1 p.m. Central Time. The pre-meeting will highlight the resources created by the Southeast Roundtable, showcase selected evidence-based interventions that will be a focus of the in-person meeting, and describe the agenda and iterative “unconference” process for the in-person meeting. Following the in-person meeting, the Southeast Roundtable will host three, virtual follow-up meetings to discuss progress in realizing action steps identified during the in-person meeting. The three, virtual follow-up meetings will take place on February 24, March 20, and April 24 from noon - 1 p.m. Central Time. Links to join virtual meetings will be sent to all who register to attend the in-person meeting.

Recapping November 15 Virtual Training Navigating Conversations

Improving HPV vaccination coverage requires traversing the communication landscape, combatting misinformation, and implementing effective communication messages. The recently held training, Navigating Conversations: Effective Communication Strategies for HPV Vaccination in the Southeast, focused on addressing misinformation and practical messaging to promote HPV vaccination in the Southeastern U.S. This training provided tools and resources for the most effective communication strategies for improving HPV vaccination, vaccination, tailoring to improve HPV vaccination rates in the Southeast, and how to best achieve consistent messaging for HPV vaccination.

This was an interactive training experience that included presentations, facilitated breakout room discussions, and large group sharing. In this virtual training, Bob Bednarczyk, PhD, Emory University, presented on effective communication strategies for HPV Vaccination and addressing HPV vaccine myths, Jennifer Cunningham-Erves, PhD, Vanderbilt University presented on a tailored, mobile phone-based intervention to build HPV vaccine confidence among parents and Beth Sundstrom, PhD, College of Charleston presented on communication strategies for HPV vaccination in the southeast, specifically building confidence and resilience. The training was moderated by Francine Walton, MPH. O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

During the training, several HPV effective communications strategies were shared, including:

Listen to the unedited recording here.

For more information, email PreventHPV@stjude.org.

Coming Soon: International HPV Awareness Day 2024

The very first International HPV Awareness Day was acknowledged on March 4, 2018, marking a pivotal step in the global battle against HPV cancers. Its goal? To boost public awareness, erase the stigma surrounding the virus, and lessen the worldwide cancer burden.

Since March 2021, the St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program has spotlighted health equity and special populations in virtual programming around International HPV Awareness Day. Now, as we approach the Seventh Annual International HPV Awareness Day, the St. Jude HPV team has an exciting lineup planned for the week of March 4, 2024. We will be focusing on strategies to increase HPV vaccination coverage and its lifesaving protection against HPV cancers, highlighting priorities in the Southeast and in rural communities, HPV vaccination for childhood cancer survivors, and training for school nurses and administrators. In early January, we will release more details on how to register and share information with your networks. For more information, send an email to PreventHPV@stjude.org with any questions.

Wide Open Spaces:

Supporting HPV Vaccination with Rural Communities

Bridging the Gap: INVESTing in HPV Vaccination for Rural Youth

In 2019, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed a concerning trend in HPV vaccination—youth in rural areas of the U.S. were initiating and completing the HPV vaccination series at lower rates than their urban counterparts. Many factors contributed to this rural-urban gap, including access-related challenges, missed opportunities for strong provider recommendations, and parent/caregiver concerns about the HPV vaccine. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic amplified existing barriers and exacerbated feelings of mistrust and vaccine hesitancy in many rural communities. Within this challenging context, an interdisciplinary team of school health professionals and researchers in North Carolina and South Carolina set out to develop a school-based HPV vaccination promotion program for rural communities. With support from the CDC, the team gathered input from parents and caregivers, school administrators, school nurses, and public health professionals and used that information to develop a program for rural middle schools called INVEST. INVEST stands for Teens INcreasing VaccinE uptake among Southern Teens.

January is Cervical Health Awareness Month. This is an ideal time to start the new year with a focus on preventing, detecting early, treating, and eliminating cervical cancer. We have the opportunity to focus efforts on eliminating cervical cancer as a public health problem in the United States, consistent with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) call for cervical cancer elimination.

Following the call from the WHO Director General in 2018, in August 2020, the World Health Assembly passed a resolution calling for elimination of cervical cancer and adopting a strategy to make it happen. The Global Strategy outlines the following threshold: we will have eliminated cervical cancer as a public health problem when all countries reach an incidence rate of less than 4 cases per 100,000 women (about the seating capacity of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum). This should happen within the lifetime of today’s young girls.

The strategy has three main pillars: prevent, screen, and treat, that capture a comprehensive approach that includes prevention, effective screening and treatment of pre-cancerous lesions, early cancer diagnosis and programs for the management of invasive cancer.

Vaccinate 90% of girls, screen 70% of women, treat 90% with cervical disease. Expected benefits include a 42% reduction in cervical cancer rates by 2045 and preventing over 74 million new cases by 2120, with 300,000 deaths averted by 2030.

The American Cancer Society, ACS National HPV Vaccination Roundtable, ACS National Roundtable on Cervical Cancer, and member organizations and partners are working to develop a U.S. elimination plan. More information on this important step forward to eliminate HPV cancers beginning with cervical cancer in the U.S. will be coming soon.

If you have any events in January for Cervical Health Awareness Month, email PreventHPV@stjude.org to share information for promotion in the January 2024 newsletter.

Updated State HPV Data Profiles Available

The St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program has created updated HPV cancer prevention data profiles for southeastern states. The state data profiles are an important tool that offer consolidated, at-a-glance look at HPV vaccination coverage and HPV cancers. Also included are state-specific opportunities and recommended actions.

We welcome your thoughts on the data profiles. Email PreventHPV@stjude.org to share your impressions, extra content we could add to the profiles, and possible uses of this resource. Be on the lookout for HPV cancer prevention data profiles for other states.

To have print copies mailed to you, email PreventHPV@stjude.org.
Another valuable HPV data resource is available from the American Cancer Society here.

Preventing HPV Cancers
Through Increased Medicaid Eligibility Fact Sheet

The St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program and FTI Consulting continued to work on further describing the benefits of Medicaid eligibility beyond only state expansion. To prevent HPV cancers, it is imperative to expand access to health insurance coverage for lower-income individuals and families through increased Medicaid eligibility levels. Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) have significantly contributed to increased childhood vaccination rates, significantly lowering the risk of life-altering diseases like HPV cancers.

A recently released fact sheet provides additional information on the importance of increasing access to health insurance coverage through expanded Medicaid income eligibility in 32 states with eligibility levels below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level. This action could directly address coverage limitations and improve cancer prevention. The fact sheet includes additional action steps to address gaps in access in support of HPV vaccination. Learn more about HPV vaccination policy recommendations here.

In May 2023, the Alabama Department of Health and partners launched the first ever statewide plan to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem, Operation Wipe Out. Alabama has increased HPV vaccination coverage of ≥1 dose which is slightly above the U.S. average However, series completion remains lower than the U.S. average and below the Healthy People 2030 goal of 80% UTD. Additionally, incidence rates of cervical cancer are higher in Alabama compared to the U.S. averages. Several action steps have been identified in the strategic action plan.

Learn more about Operation Wipe Out by watching the newly released documentary here.

Arkansas

Immunize Arkansas hosted their first in-person end of year meeting and immunization awards ceremony since 2019 on November 30 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Through the work of Immunize Arkansas, 701 healthcare professionals received vaccination continuing education credit through the 2023 HPV Summit, 2023 Immunization Summit, an HPV Webinar for Pharmacists, and COVID-19/ Respiratory Vaccine Webinars. Additionally, Immunize Arkansas led seven workgroups with 526 members, including workgroups focused on childhood vaccinations and HPV cancer prevention.

Tennessee

Vaccine Advocates Friendsgiving

The Vaccine Advocates Friendsgiving event held at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee on November 7, 2023, served as a forum for pro-vaccination advocates to learn more about the vaccination landscape in Tennessee. Serving as hosts, Tennessee Families for Vaccines and the Memphis and Shelby County HPV Cancer Prevention Roundtable brought together pro-vaccination advocates representing clinical, community and policy interests, each looking to impact vaccination legislation in Tennessee that greatly affects the protections provided through childhood vaccinations.

During the event, guests learned how they can protect public policy in Memphis and Shelby County considering the racial disparities in vaccine uptake and strategies to improve vaccine confidence. Attendees also learned how to utilize specific immunization data when advocating for improved legislation.

Vaccine advocate and Tennessee Families for Vaccines co-founder Dr. Barb Dentz gave insight to being an advocate by showing up to meet with legislators and speaking up to them either face-to-face or through trusted social media and other communications such as op-eds. St. Jude Chief Government Affairs Officer Robert Clark provided an overview of the 2024 Tennessee policy outlook and how it will affect lawmaking in the coming year relative to vaccinations.

Information on Shelby County school vaccination completion rates was provided to use with legislators representing Memphis and Shelby County The event culminated with the attendees mailing their legislators a postcard with the clear message: “Strong public health policy protects what matters most.”

Memphis and Shelby County HPV Cancer Prevention Roundtable

The Memphis and Shelby County HPV Cancer Prevention Roundtable mid-year meeting on March 19, 2024, will highlight ongoing work to improve HPV vaccination in Memphis and Shelby County. More information to follow.

If you are in Memphis and Shelby County, we hope you will join the Memphis and Shelby County HPV Cancer Prevention Roundtable. To become a member, please complete and submit the membership application form below. Learn more about the roundtable here. Please email PreventHPV@stjude.org with any questions.

Tennessee Department of Health Immunization Provider Expo

We are thrilled to announce that the Tennessee Department of Health Vaccine-Preventable Diseases and Immunization Program (VPDIP) will be hosting an Immunization Provider Expo in each of Tennessee's grand divisions (East, Middle, West). These annual full-day gatherings are designed to bring our vaccine providers together to foster networking, enhance their knowledge, and collaboratively address challenges. This event serves as a replacement for the VFC Annual Review held prior to 2020.

The upcoming VPDIP Immunization Provider Expo dates will be:

Memphis on March 6, 2024
Knoxville on March 20, 2024
Nashville on March 27, 2024 (Hybrid option available)

Click here to reserve your spot.

2023 Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association Recap

The 2023 Annual Meeting and Expo of the American Public Health Association (APHA) is a leading public health event, offering opportunities for personal and professional growth for over 12,000 public health professionals. During this four-day event, attendance draws professionals from across the globe, providing an opportunity for knowledge sharing, vivid conversations, and inspiration for the future of public health. Hosted this year in Atlanta, Georgia, from November 12 to 15, the event aimed to address social and ethical challenges that threaten our nation's health, focusing on building public health capacity and expanding prevention efforts at community, state, and federal levels. Kicking off with a special session featuring speeches from Dolly Parton and Admiral Rachel Levine, Assistant Secretary of Health and head of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, the opening session emphasized the importance of creating the healthiest nation by overcoming social and ethical challenges and setting the stage for the overall event. Other meeting sessions covered infectious diseases, substance misuse, climate change, and health disparities.

Members of the St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program were in attendance and able to share information on on-time HPV vaccination starting at age nine, links to valuable HPV-related data, and fun swag as exhibitors. The conference provided valuable insights into public health from various subject matter experts, emphasizing the importance of small to large-scale efforts in the United States and beyond. It also highlighted the importance of the program’s dedication to HPV vaccination and public health overall. As a reminder that we are all interconnected, this year’s APHA meeting gave public health practitioners the opportunity to connect as individuals, teams, and communities with an emphasis on coming together to achieve the goals of public health for all.

AIM Vaccine Confidence Toolkit

This toolkit is designed to equip members of the Association of Immunization Managers and their staff with the tools and information necessary to promote vaccine confidence across the nation and its territories. The toolkit gives you access to a collection of resources for promoting vaccine confidence! This toolkit is designed to provide public health immunization programs with the tools and information needed to educate providers and consumers on vaccination and build vaccine confidence. For even more resources, visit the AIM resource library

“The best gift I ever received was my pink Barbie jeep. I thought I could drive that thing anywhere.” – Julia Brown, program manager

“My all-time favorite holiday gift was from my cousin. She made collage blankets for both of my boys after they were born. I will keep these blankets forever as a keepsake.” – Karlisa Cryer, medical content writer

“My birthday is at the end of December, so the best gift has been being able to celebrate each year with my family and friends.” – Duha Magzoub, program coordinator

“The best holiday gift I have ever received was a handmade woolen sweater from my grandmother when I was 15, and I still have it in my closet to this day.” – Pragya Gautam Poudel, postdoctoral fellow

“My first pair of roller skates.” – Ursula Leflore, administrative specialist

“I loved Barbra Streisand. One Christmas, I got two of her albums and a record player. You can imagine how the rest of the day went for me.” – Carol Minor, program coordinator

“The best ‘gift’ I’ve received was getting to spend the holidays with my babcia and dziadek when they came to Memphis from Poland for Christmas.” – Kasia Mitchell, graduate student assistant

“When I was five years old, my uncle Thomas gave me a life size baby doll who looked just like me. I was an only child at the time so having a “twin” was so exciting for me.” – Andrea Stubbs, administrative director

“By far the best Christmas gift I ever received was a BMX bicycle. I think I rode that bike all day, every day, until New Year’s.” – Cristóbal Valdebenito, program coordinator

“My best gift was my husband's proposal to me in a big, beautifully wrapped box on Christmas day.” – Portia Knowlton, program coordinator

“I really enjoy the giving spirit of the holiday season. I love to give gifts to others. Any gift I receive is always appreciated – and not expected.” – 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.