Paving pathways: Brazil's implementation of a national human papillomavirus immunization campaign

• Main Authors: Misha L. Baker, Daniella Figueroa-Downing, Ellen Dias De Oliveira Chiang, Luisa Villa, Maria Luiza Baggio, José Eluf-Neto, Robert A. Bednarczyk, Dabney P. Evans
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Spanish; Portuguese
• Published: Pan American Health Organization 2015
• Subjects: programas de inmunización; vacunación; vacunas contra papillomavirus; infecciones por papillomavirus; sistema de registros; transferencia de tecnología; promoción de la salud; Brasil; Medicine; R; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/eb38eed6f7a54aeea66cd6e103d4d791

In 2014, Brazil introduced an HPV immunization program for girls 9-13 years of age as part of the Unified Health System's (SUS) National Immunization Program. The first doses were administered in March 2014; the second ones, in September 2014. In less than 3 months more than 3 million girls received the first dose of quadrivalent HPV vaccine, surpassing the target rate of 80%. This paper examines three elements that may influence the program's long-term success in Brazil: sustaining effective outreach, managing a large technology-transfer collaboration, and developing an electronic immunization registry, with a focus on the State of São Paulo. If these three factors are managed, the Government of Brazil is primed to serve as a model of success for other countries interested in implementing a national HPV vaccination program to decrease HPV-related morbidity and mortality.