INTERNATIONAL HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS AWARENESS DAY (HPV) – WEBINAR
In the past week, the European Cancer Organization held a webinar on the occasion of International Human Papillomavirus Awareness Day (HPV). Specialists and representatives of organizations from Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania joined the seminar. The chairpersons of HPV Action Network – Daniel Kelly and Margareth Stanley – put a start of the lecture. Among the attendees there were representatives of the “Astra Forum” Foundation as well as doctor Momchil Baev, in his capacity of member of Coalition HPV – Bulgaria.
The International Human Papillomavirus Awareness Day (HPV) aims at disseminating as much information as possible about the virus that causes great number of oncological diseases worldwide. Such initiatives are essential for prevention and counteraction HPV. In 2024 the campaign highlighted the personal stories of people who survived after being sick with types of cancer caused by the virus. The hosts presented a political atlas for human papilloma virus prevention. It shows the per cent of vaccinated in Europe, whereas the first ranking is Denmark, and Bosnia and Hercegovina is in the bottom of the ranking. We could see obvious separation between Western and Eastern Europe, where they still need to improve some trends. Unfortunately, Bulgaria is still not coping too well, with only 60% vaccinated citizens. According to the recommendations to the attention of all countries, we should establish free screening for the whole population, free vaccination for men and women, collection and dissemination of authentic information.
The first topic of the agenda focused on the newly created “PROTECT-EUROPE Online Hub”. This is part of the project PROTECT-EUROPE, via which we promote vaccination campaigns in the European Union member-states. This online platform contains particular and free accessible information about human papilloma virus. The users could find articles, pieces of advice and many more resources.
The Executive director of the European Cancer Organization, Mike Morrissey, continued the discussion and presented the latest news about the so-called HPV Action Now Project. According to his words, at present Europe is at a key stage of its plan for counteracting oncological diseases that also includes prophylactics and screening. On focus was the work with the governments of Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia. These are countries where human papilloma virus is an essential issue and where it is necessary to increase the number of vaccinated. The project unites youth, sports, school organizations and patients. The main objective is the number of vaccinated youth to go up to 90%, and the per cent of women who underwent screening at least once should become 70%. HPV Action facilitates the implementation of these plans and the joint work between various countries.
Doctor Karmen Ungoran (Romania) presented the plan for cervical cancer prevention. It includes vaccination, screening and dissemination of useful information campaigns. In countries like Romania, the healthcare system foresees nationwide policies. Only 2.7 per cent of healthcare costs are nevertheless devoted to prevention of various diseases. Romania ranks first when it comes to morbidity due to cervical cancer cases. In 2012 our Northern neighbour initiated screening program that reached around 11% of women in the first 5 years.
As a solution to this problem we rely on the mobile screening centers and in order to improve the examination quality clearer strategy is created with precise standards and partnerships with various communities, WHO and others. When it comes to the number of people aware of human papilloma virus, around 57% of all Romanians confirm they have heard about it (mainly on TV or brochures). Nevertheless only 7% suggest administering vaccine as a prevention method – the other ideas are about participation in campaigns, regular examinations. Since 2023, vaccination of girls and boys aged 11-18 is for free and women aged over 19 could do it for half the price.
The Croatian specialist Marija Posavec shared the results related to anti-HPV vaccination in the last 15 years, in her country. In 2007, the Balkan country started vaccinating for free girls of severe social status and daughters of military men in the capital city of Zagreb. Nevertheless the positive trend could not be sustained in the years to come since administering the vaccine was only “recommended” and for consideration. In the period of 2007-2015 only 14% of the municipalities in the country offered full funding for the vaccination campaigns. Another significant hindrance is about movement and protests against vaccines in general. From 2016 to 2022 the administration of vaccine against HPV kept being only recommendable yet without having to pay a fee. We focus on youth aged 15 that are supposed to take 2 or 3 doses. In 2023 the per cent of girls and boys that had received at least one vaccine dose were 51 and 34, correspondingly. The Croatian doctors realize that the campaign would have been more successful, were the information provided more than once, with fewer intermediaries and in clearer way, at an earlier age and with focus on human papilloma virus sexual transmission. It is important for the people to be informed in active and accessible manner and to highlight the combination of vaccines, screening and regular examinations.
The Bulgarian deputy-minister of health, professor Mihail Okoliyski elaborated the topic on our country’s plan to increase cancer disease prevention brought about by human papilloma virus and increase the number of vaccinated. The main objective of the program is to lower the cervical cancer cases while highlighting girls aged 10-13 that are to receive 2 doses of the Gardasil 9, administered by general practitioners. The awareness campaigns are aimed at parents and young women aged up to 25. In the past year, the number of girls that completed immunization against HPV, is only 1938. The Ministry of Health prioritizes protection against vaccine-preventable diseases just like the ones brought about by the human papilloma virus. To this end, we need to expand the target group via inclusion of more ages and boys, as well as to extend the terms of the national immunization plan. 12 million BGN are to be set aside for new screening campaign and additional support is to be provided to general practitioners, nongovernmental organizations, gynaecologists, obstetricians and other specialists. Additionally, strategy for communication and accession has been elaborated. At present, discussions are running with numerous experts, in order to find ways to increase the persons vaccinated against HPV. This is happening via awareness campaigns that prove vaccine efficiency, active participation of medical specialists, facilitation of access to vaccines and preparation and dissemination of materials with useful information to the attention of parents.
