Our Daughters—Ourselves: Evaluating the Impact of Paired Cervical Cancer Screening of Mothers with HPV Vaccination for Daughters to Improve HPV Vaccine Coverage in Bamako, Mali

Abstract

Cervical cancer (CC) is the second most common cancer in Western Africa, accounting for 12,000 cases and 6000 deaths annually. While vaccination against human papilloma virus (HPV) and CC screenings reduce the incidence and mortality of CC in many developed countries, 90% of CC deaths are in low-income countries. Lack of knowledge about the connection between HPV and CC, lack of access to vaccines and screenings, weak healthcare infrastructure, and stigma related to sexually transmitted diseases are among the factors that contribute to this disparity. Previously, we evaluated the knowledge of HPV and CC in Bamako, Mali, showing that knowledge of the link between HPV and CC was very low (less than 8% of participants) and that less than 3% of women were screened for CC. Subsequent implementation of a community-based education program and support for local clinics resulted in a five-fold increase in CC screening at the five participating clinics in 2015. In this study, we paired CC screenings of mothers with HPV vaccination of their daughters to target out-of-school (OOS) girls whom school-based vaccination campaigns would not reach. Our campaign resulted in a 10.7% increase in HPV vaccination.