Ontario has seen a staggering and deadly drop in HPV vaccinations. We must protect youth against cancer now – Toronto Star

Ontarians responded to public health appeals to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Yet, we are moving in the wrong direction when it comes to HPV vaccinations, which protect against nine types of HPV strains and decrease the risk of six types of cancer, including cervical, anal, head and neck.

This must end, with the recognition Ontario is on the brink of an HPV crisis due to this drastic immunization drop.

Vaccines against HPV and the cancers that can follow are a miracle of preventative medicine. The facts are compelling. According to the World Health Organization, if we achieve an HPV vaccination rate of over 90 per cent by 2025, together with screening and treatment, we could eliminate cervical cancer diagnoses by 2040.

Currently, Grade 7 students in Ontario can receive the HPV9 vaccine through the school-based immunization program.

About 60 per cent of 12-year-olds were immunized in 2018-19. Alarmingly, this rate dropped to 0.8 per cent in 2020-21.

This drop will have a long-lasting impact. One American study predicts missed vaccinations in 2020 could lead to thousands of additional cases of cervical cancer over the next 100 years, with incidence continuing to increase until the 2050s.

The decline comes as no mystery. From March 2020 to January 2022, Ontario schools were closed for more than 27 weeks along with school-based immunization programs. Public health and school boards were forced to concentrate on COVID-19, leaving HPV vaccination campaigns behind

That sense of priority must be re-established to ensure prompt vaccination against HPV for half a million 12-to-15-year-olds.

First, we need to ensure access to vaccinations. School-led vaccination clinics in middle schools remain our most effective way to reach unvaccinated populations. We also need to include high school programs to reach those that missed their opportunity to get vaccinated during school closures.

Second, pharmacists should be empowered to provide HPV vaccinations. Paired with mobile vaccination sites and public health clinics, a collaborative model minimizes barriers to access.

Third, education about cancer prevention through HPV vaccination must be boosted, as families often fail to make the connection. Health-care professionals play a huge role in helping parents understand these risks, and make vaccination an available option by working with their local public health unit to order doses for eligible patients.

Finally, its crucial to emphasize the benefits of vaccination. HPV vaccination is almost 100 per cent effective against cervical cancer if a complete regimen is given before age 25.

We know HPV vaccines are safe. Evidence from programs that have delivered over 270 million doses of HPV vaccines show no serious side effects.

Its time to urge the government, public health, school boards and primary care providers to work together to fill this massive gap.

No one wants to hear the words, you have cancer. And no one wants to learn something as simple as getting vaccinated could have prevented the outcome. When it comes to HPV vaccinations among youth, we must act now.

Dr. Vivien Brown is a family physician, HPV prevention expert and chair of the Federation of Medical Women of Canada (FMWC) HPV Immunization Task Force.

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Ontario has seen a staggering and deadly drop in HPV vaccinations. We must protect youth against cancer now - Toronto Star