More clinicians need to be discussing the HPV vaccination with their patients and parents, and starting early could improve vaccination rates, according to panelists at a recent National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) webinar.
Although the CDC reports that more than half of teenagers are up-to-date on the HPV vaccine (Gardasil, Merck) that is used to prevent cervical, anal and other HPV-related cancers, the public health community could be doing better.
“If there was a vaccine for breast cancer, everybody would have it,” said Kimberly Williams, the chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer for Cervivor, a nonprofit bringing cervical cancer survivors together to help raise awareness about the disease.