Addressing gaps in HPV vaccine awareness and access
Every year, World Immunization Week is celebrated in the last week of April to promote the use of vaccines so that every generation is protected against diseases. This year, we turn our attention to one worth spotlighting: the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. It protects against several types of cancers affecting both men and women, preventing nine out of 10 cases of HPV infection. It has long been proven safe and effective, but vaccination rates remain low due to a mix of supply and logistical challenges, as expounded in the Inquirer article “High HPV awareness, but barriers stall PH vaccination.”
What is less discussed, however, is the role of adolescents themselves. The initial results of the UPLIFT Adolescents project, implemented by the UP Manila National Institutes of Health Health Promotion Program and funded by the WHO Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, found that less than half of unvaccinated individuals see access to the HPV vaccine as moderate to very easy. But access alone is not the whole story. The project also found that adolescents had significant information and awareness gaps, which may affect their trust and responsiveness to getting the vaccine.
Addressing these gaps means going beyond simply providing information. It means engaging the right audiences in the right way, ensuring that adolescents are not just recipients of health services but active participants in decisions about their own health and credible voices among their peers and relatives.
This points to a clear direction: minimize top-down approaches that underestimate adolescents’ capacity to engage meaningfully with health information. Messages must be co-created with adolescents to ensure they resonate and address real concerns.
UPLIFT Adolescents takes this seriously by adopting a participatory model that brings together multiple stakeholders, engaging them in co-creating content, identifying barriers, and shaping solutions grounded in their lived realities. The result is health communication that is both accurate and culturally relevant.
In practice, this looks like interactive activities that shift audiences from passive receivers to active contributors, people who question, interpret, and share knowledge within their own circles. This deepens understanding of HPV and its vaccine, making information more accessible and personally meaningful.
When accurate information is discussed within trusted social networks, it becomes more credible and more likely to drive action. By connecting evidence with lived experience and peer dialogue, this approach moves the conversation beyond awareness, toward informed decision-making and lasting behavior change.
Reiner Lorenzo Tamayo and Bill Whilson Baljon
renztamayo@gmail.com
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