This CHIC technical brief synthesizes evidence and programmatic considerations to guide country decision-making on expanding HPV vaccination beyond the primary target of girls aged 9–14, in response to a growing number of African countries adopting or considering vaccination of older girls (15–18), young women up to age 26, or boys. Grounding its analysis in WHO […]
Topic: Service Delivery: Target Expansion
Efficacy Of Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Among Kenyan Adolescents And Young Adults Living With HIV Nine Years After Initial Vaccination
In Kenya, a nine-year follow-up of a cohort of 180 adolescents living with HIV who received three doses of the quadrivalent HPV vaccine at ages 9–14 found sustained vaccine-specific protection, with zero persistent infections detected for HPV types 11, 16, or 18 among 151 evaluable participants. Only two participants (1.3%) had any vaccine-genotype persistent infection, […]
Expanding HPV vaccine Programs to Older Adolescent Girls or Young Boys: Immunization Stakeholder Perspectives in 11 Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Semi-structured interviews with 22 national immunization program managers and advisors across 11 LMICs conducted between May and August 2025 examined stakeholder perspectives on expanding HPV vaccination to older adolescent girls (15–18 years) and young boys (9–14 years). Slightly more stakeholders prioritized older girls, citing continued vaccine effectiveness post-sexual debut, independent health-seeking capacity, and evidence from […]
Using Geographic information System mapping for Evidence-Based Planning to Reach HPV vaccine Target Girls and Zero-Dose Children: Experience from Jigjiga Town, Ethiopia.
In Ethiopia, a 20-day house-to-house GIS mapping exercise conducted in Jigjiga town (Somali region) between August and September 2024 revealed major discrepancies between projected and actual target populations: official estimates placed the HPV-eligible girl population at 6,770, while the headcount identified 11,300 — a 67% undercount — and 14,935 girls were ultimately vaccinated, representing 132% […]
Reaching the unreached: Integrating HPV Vaccination into Community Based Health Platforms in Ethiopia.
In Ethiopia, where cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women, the school-based HPV vaccination strategy structurally excludes out-of-school girls — particularly in pastoralist and hard-to-reach communities. The HPV-VISION project evaluated two community-based integration models across four districts: integration into routine immunisation services (ARM 2) and integration into Adolescent and Youth-Friendly Services (ARM […]
Community-driven solutions for HPV vaccination: results from human-centered design in Malawi and Mozambique
In Malawi and Mozambique — two countries with among the highest cervical cancer incidence rates globally (67.9 and 47.8 per 100,000 women respectively) — a multi-stakeholder human-centered design process engaged adolescents aged 9–14, caregivers, teachers, health workers, and community and religious leaders across 35 workshops in four districts to co-create integrated HPV vaccination delivery solutions. […]
Laying the groundwork for adolescent-centred HPV services: Formative Insights from Stakeholder Consultations in Lagos and Kebbi States, Nigeria
In Nigeria, formative stakeholder consultations conducted across Lagos and Kebbi states engaged 88 key informants — including national programme managers, adolescent girls, caregivers, community leaders, health workers, teachers, and LGA managers — to identify barriers and facilitators for integrating HPV vaccination with adolescent primary health care services as part of the SHARP implementation research programme. […]
Improving uptake of HPV Vaccine: Challenges and strategies used to reach Out-of-School Adolescents in Tanzania
In Tanzania, HPV vaccination coverage among out-of-school (OOS) adolescent girls aged 9–14 remains low despite national programme progress. As part of the SHARP mixed-methods implementation research study, 69 key informant interviews with health workers and managers in Mbeya and Arusha identified layered barriers to reaching OOS girls, including complex recruitment procedures, transport and distance constraints, […]
Improved HPV Vaccination by co-designing a context-specific Integrated Health Service Delivery Package in Kebbi and Lagos State, Nigeria: Human-Centered Design Approach.
In Nigeria, sustaining HPV vaccination and transitioning to routine delivery following the 2023 multi-age cohort campaign remain significant challenges. As part of the SHARP multi-country study, human-centered design (HCD) workshops in Agege LGA (Lagos) and Gwandu LGA (Kebbi) engaged 55 stakeholders across community, facility, LGA, state, and national levels to co-design locally tailored integrated service […]
Integrating School Engagement And Facility-Based Screening To Strengthen HPV Vaccination In Kenya.
In Kenya, a dual-strategy implementation study addressed two persistent barriers to HPV vaccination coverage — vaccine hesitancy and dependence on inconsistent school-based outreach — through complementary school engagement and facility-based OPD screening models. The Ministry of Education–led school engagement component deployed school health committees, teacher training, health club reactivation, and peer-led forums nationwide, generating qualitative […]