Efforts to increase HPV vaccine use are cost effective

Three types of interventions aimed at increasing human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine coverage are all cost-effective, according to new study led by a researcher from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

First author Jennifer Spencer, research fellow in the Center for Health Decision Science, and colleagues modeled outcomes over 50 years, comparing a one-year implementation of each of the three interventions to taking no action. The interventions they looked at included centralized systems that remind patients via call, email, or text about being due or overdue for vaccines; school-based vaccinations; and immunization quality improvement sessions for providers at primary care clinics.

The study was published online in Pediatrics on November 16, 2020.

Interventions to improve vaccine coverage could prevent 3,000 to 14,000 cases of cervical and other cancers associated with HPV in the coming decades, according to the researchers.

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