“HPV vaccination in Honduras – lessons learned from a pilot program”

Through a corporate social responsibility program, 86,400 HPV vaccines were donated in a challenging attempt to change the current landscape of HPV infection and cervical cancer in Honduras. To optimize the impact of available doses, it was elected to vaccinate 28,800 10-and-11-year-old girls in several municipalities, and to utilize this small-scale program as a model for the development of a national HPV vaccination plan under the Ministry of Health.

The school-based vaccination program was coordinated by Catholic Medical Mission Board with non-profit partners and was designed to successfully administer three doses to the target cohort. Key messaging campaigns educated healthcare workers, school teachers, principals, girls and their parents. Parents were given opt-out consent forms, and local media amplified the impact of community education and acceptance.

To date, 22,655 girls received dose #1, 16,385 girls received dose #2, and 6,080 received dose #3 with ongoing vaccination and data collection. More than 29,000 teachers, parents, and girls received educational program materials. To date, 298 healthcare workers were trained on vaccine administration and counseling, vaccine risks and benefits, data collection, and adverse events.

Despite challenges of labor strikes, gang violence, supply-chain management, and access to remote villages, local partners forged successful initiation of an HPV vaccination program. Recommend areas of improvement for future cohorts include: decrease loss-to-follow up by increasing communication to schools prior to vaccination days; integrate Ministry of Education employees with campaign; improve school census data prior to initiating vaccination; and create a transportation strategy for vaccination teams to visit schools.