Due to the late introduction of HPV vaccination in China, studies on interventions to improve the vaccine coverage in China are still insufficient. Most of the studies have been conducted in Hong Kong, which was the first to launch the HPV vaccine in the market. A health education study was conducted in Hong Kong, where a one-page leaflet was distributed to women visiting the gynecology and obstetrics units whose daughters aged between 8 and 18 to increase the awareness of HPV vaccines. The study found that the proportion of women who consented to have their daughters vaccinated with the HPV vaccine increased after the intervention [1].
Another study examined the intervention by having cancer experts deliver a one-hour health education lecture and Q&A session to students in four junior high schools. The study found that the knowledge, attitudes, and willingness to be vaccinated with the HPV vaccine among the students who participated the session was all enhanced compared to before the intervention [2]. However, due to the lack of a control group in these studies, the effects of the intervention should be interpreted with caution.
Most of the intervention studies in Mainland China focused on knowledge and attitudes toward HPV vaccine due to the limited access to HPV vaccination. In 2015-2017, a multi-center randomized controlled trial covering 7 cities in China employed a train-the-trainer approach. School teachers who were trained by professional doctors were asked to deliver a 45-minute health class on HPV infection and vaccination to students aged 13-14. It was found that after the intervention, students’ willingness to receive HPV vaccination increased. Although the level of knowledge related to HPV vaccines decreased over the one-year period following the intervention, students in the intervention group still had a better understanding and higher awareness of HPV vaccine-related knowledge compared to the control group [3].
Intervention studies conducted in mainland China are relatively limited. Further research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of various interventions in improving HPV vaccination coverage among adolescents in Mainland China. There is a significant lack of cost-effectiveness studies on interventions to increase HPV vaccine coverage conducted in China.
Content Reviewer: Kelly Hunter, Menglu Jiang
Page Editor: Jiaqi Zu
References:
- Chan SS, Cheung TH, Lo WK, Chung TK: Women’s attitudes on human papillomavirus vaccination to their daughters. J Adolesc Health 2007, 41(2):204-207.
- Kwan TT, Tam KF, Lee PW, Chan KK, Ngan HY: The effect of school-based cervical cancer education on perceptions towards human papillomavirus vaccination among Hong Kong Chinese adolescent girls. Patient Educ Couns 2011, 84(1):118-122.
- Zhang X, Liu C-r, Wang Z-z, Ren Z-f, Feng X-x, Ma W, Gao X-h, Zhang R, Brown MD, Qiao Y-l et al: Effect of a school-based educational intervention on HPV and HPV vaccine knowledge and willingness to be vaccinated among Chinese adolescents: a multi-center intervention follow-up study. Vaccine 2020, 38(20):3665-3670.
