World Bank Group

04/08/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/06/2025 18:18

Trusted Voices: Engaging religious and community leaders to advance human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination

While significant progress has been made in preventing cervical cancer through HPV vaccination, uptake for the vaccine has been sub-optimal. According to evidence from the WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE), up to one-third of vaccine hesitancy can be attributed to contextual influences such as culture and religion. Widespread uptake of the vaccine will require understanding of factors that influence community vaccine acceptance and decisions.

Local leaders, including religious authorities, have deep-rooted connections with their communities and can significantly influence them to make informed decisions about vaccination. Engaging and educating these leaders can help address their concerns and promote positive and culturally sensitive messaging to their followers, enhancing advocacy strategies to mobilize support for HPV vaccination.

This deep dive session aims to bring together religious leaders, community leaders, and cervical cancer experts to explore strategies to leverage community and faith networks to boost HPV vaccination and cervical cancer screening uptake as part of broader sexual and reproductive health goals. By engaging these key figures, the session seeks to explore examples on how to engage faith-actors and community-based leaders on HPV vaccination - and share strategies, challenges, and tools to help them protect the health of their communities.

  • To identify key barriers and opportunities in engaging community leaders and religious authorities on HPV vaccination and cervical cancer prevention efforts
  • To highlight successful faith-aligned or community-led strategies and best practices from different countries and contexts
  • To develop practical recommendations for engaging community leaders and religious authorities to enhance advocacy strategies to mobilize support for HPV vaccinations
  • To foster collaboration and strategic partnerships to build momentum on this agenda and create an enabling environment for others to drive change

3:30 pm - Welcome and introduction

3:35 pm - Speaker 1: Presentation: A case-study on mobilizing networks of faith leaders and faith communities to enhance the accessibility and acceptance of the HPV vaccine.

3:45 pm - Speaker 2 Presentation: Community leadership for health advocacy- exploring the role of community action via CSOs in Africa in the elimination of cervical cancer in Africa, including increased uptake of HPV vaccination.

3:55 pm - Speaker 3 Presentation: Experiences in faith-based advocacy and how these strategies can be applied to support HPV vaccine advocacy across the continent.

4:00 pm - Discussion and Q&A

4:55 pm - Closing and call to action