Less than 25 percent of Kansas females age 13-17 completed the full course of HPV vaccinations in 2014. HPV, or human papillomavirus, is common and causes cancers in both men and women, including almost all cases of cervical cancer. A series of three vaccinations, usually administered to preteen boys and girls, can prevent the virus and the cancer it causes.
In response to Kansas having one of the lowest HPV vaccination rates in the country for the last several years, the Immunize Kansas Coalition (IKC) made increasing adolescent vaccine rates a priority. The IKC has set goals of increasing HPV vaccine series completion from 24.8% to 42.0% for girls and from 19.5% to 38.0% for boys by 2020. To help achieve these goals, the IKC released its Call to Change, which encourages health providers, parents, and community members to work together on increasing vaccination to protect our kids against HPV-related cancers.
The Call to Change is the lead document in IKC's HPV Vaccine Toolkit. The toolkit compiles some of the best resources in Kansas and across the country for helping providers increase their vaccination rates. The toolkit's release was part of IKC's immunizekansascoalition.org website launch, unveiled yesterday by Dr. John Eplee, MD, at the Kansas Immunization Conference in Salina, Kansas, and the Kansas Academy of Family Physicians Annual Meeting in Overland Park.
In a letter sent to health providers accompanying the Call to Change, Dr. Eplee explains, "This cancer prevention vaccine is safe, effective, readily available, and works best when given at ages 11 and 12 for the strongest immune response."
Dr. Eplee is Chair of the Immunize Kansas Coalition, a group of Kansas providers, health department officials, researchers, and educators working together to improve vaccine rates.
The Call to Change document, HPV Vaccine Toolkit, and many other resources are available at www.immunizekansascoalition.org.
IKC representatives welcomed several visitors to their table at the Kansas Immunization Conference exhibits.
Immunize Kansas Coalition is an independent 501(c)(3) non profit organization.
Supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $79,278,482 with 100% funded by the CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, the CDC/HHS, the U.S. Government, or the Office of the Kansas Governor. For more information, please visit https://www.cdc.gov. [revision 10/01/21].
