This week we continue to share about vaccines. We are zooming in on one particular type of vaccine and the work that has been done to maximise the effectiveness of communication campaigns on the vaccine.
Spotlight
|
The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) has been identified as the primary cause of cervical cancer. The development of the HPV vaccine provided one of the most cost-effective tools to prevent HPV, the main cause of cervical cancer, among whole generations of women. The HPV vaccine is most effective to prevent cervical cancer when administered to adolescent girls (9-14 years). |
 |
There is growing global inequality in cervical cancer rates. While this inequality has always existed due to variable access to cervical cancer screening services globally as well as the variable impact of HIV (a known risk factor for cervical cancer), it is now being made worse by the unequal roll-out of the HPV vaccine.
Showcase
A vaccine to prevent cancer? It matters how you communicate about it.
Awareness of cervical cancer is lacking even though it is nearly as common as breast cancer, but more deadly.
Source: World Health Organisation. 2022. Global Cancer Observatory.
Busara[1], a behavioural economics research centre, in collaboration with others, undertook a study across Kenya[2] to encourage uptake of the HPV vaccination among parents of adolescent girls through communication interventions.
Four types of message framings were tested:
|
1) Control: Participants in the control group received a poster and an interactive SMS intervention with no explicit behavioural theme.
2) Fear: The messaging to participants, in the form of a poster and an interactive SMS intervention, used feelings of regret about not getting vaccinated. |
3) Aspirations/gains: The messaging to participants, in the form of a poster and an interactive SMS intervention, focused on parents’ feelings of aspiration about getting their daughters vaccinated.
4) Social Norms: The messaging to participants, in the form of a poster and an interactive SMS intervention, centred around social norms for vaccination. |
|
Messages that linked the HPV vaccine to parents’ aspirations for their daughters’ future, framing the vaccine as cancer-preventing, and visual communication of a doctor’s support for the vaccine, were most effective to drive uptake. A similar study done in South Africa[3] linked primary health interventions for example school-based HPV vaccination, health education, self-sampling, and molecular screening which resulted in significant improvements in knowledge and screening to control cervical cancer. |
 |
A similar study done in South Africa linked primary health interventions for example school-based HPV vaccination, health education, self-sampling, and molecular screening which resulted in significant improvements in knowledge and screening to control cervical cancer.
Prof. Greta Dreyer (University of Pretoria) and her team also helped to develop the PreTect SA screening test, designed specifically for the South African context. This test can prevent nearly 90% of cervical cancer cases if widely implemented[4]. A wonderful example of world-class research being done in South Africa, for South Africa!
Links we love
- Vaccine communication and social media: The Covid-19 pandemic allowed us to generate significant learnings on communication strategies to overcome vaccine hesitancy. This paper by Sarah Cooper and colleagues explores the use of social media in Africa to improve the uptake of vaccine messaging.
- Data visualisation and vaccine myths: Information is beautiful recently released an infographic on the relationship between autism and vaccines. If we could, we would link all of their visuals – definitely worth a look (and follow)!
- Storytelling and science communication: We’ve been exploring resources on communication through storytelling and recently came across The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr (2020). It offers a compelling framework for understanding why stories can be so impactful, and how different storytelling techniques can be used to communicate ideas better.
2 https://preventglobalhpvcancers.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/ACS-HPV-Kenya-final-report.pdf
3 https://www.international-journal-of-gynecological-cancer.com/article/S1048-891X(24)00978-2/fulltext
