About
The HPV Vaccine Project is a collaborative public health effort that aims to prevent cervical cancer by increasing HPV vaccination among adolescent girls in a 13-county region in south central North Carolina. Our project is the product of a research and practice partnership between the South Central Partnership for Public Health, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, the North Carolina Division of Public Health and several local and regional partners.
The HPV Vaccine Project includes a pilot health communication campaign in Cumberland, Harnett, Richmond, and Robeson Counties to educate mothers about the HPV vaccine and how to get it for their daughters. It also includes an education and outreach component for medical practices in these four counties.
Using project posters, brochures, a web site, and other outreach materials, the HPV Vaccine Project staff and partners will reach out to mothers of adolescent girls to educate them on HPV, cervical cancer, and the benefits of HPV vaccine, and will assist them with understanding access to the vaccine for their daughters. The campaign will also work with medical practices to encourage them to (1) promote the HPV Vaccine Project, (2) have conversations with parents about HPV vaccination and (3) help clarify access to the HPV vaccine for their patients.
By better educating parents and improving access to the HPV vaccine, we can reduce girls’ risk of infection with HPV and help prevent most cervical cancers.
This project was initiated by a collaborative of health departments, the South Central Partnership for Public Health, which includes 13 of the North Carolina counties with some of the highest rates of cervical cancer: Anson, Bladen, Cumberland, Harnett, Hoke, Lee, Montgomery, Moore, Randolph, Richmond, Robeson, Sampson, and Scotland. Cervical cancer mortality rates in some of these counties are twice those for the rest of the state, and now there is a vaccine that can help prevent it. The HPV vaccine is safe, effective, available, and can help protect girls against most cervical cancers.