In this published paper, a team lead by Ms. Juliet Nabirye with support from the SPEED project assessed how are the health system factors are influencing uptake of HPV vaccine to inform policy for vaccine implementation and uptake in Mbale district, Eastern Uganda.
This study is premised on the global cause of reducing cervical cancer infections and deaths using the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.
The study found out that fifty-six (14%) of 407 adolescents self-reported vaccine uptake. 182 (52.3%) of 348 reported a lack of awareness about the HPV vaccine as the major reason for not having received it. Receiving vaccines from outreach clinics (p = 0.02), having many options from which to receive the vaccine (p = 0.02), getting an explanation on possible side-effects (p = 0.024), and receiving the vaccine alongside other services (p = 0.024) were positively associated with uptake.
Training of health workers to provide adequate information on the HPV vaccine, raising awareness of the vaccine in markets, schools, and radio talk shows, and communicating the target to health workers were some of the recommendations, the researchers put forward. Read more about this paper on this link
