Thanks to your support, 2024 was a year of remarkable progress toward our vision of a world free from HPV cancers, with new milestones bringing us closer to this goal.
76 countries!! around the world now undertake gender-neutral HPV vaccination, protecting both their daughters and their sons against the devastation caused by this preventable virus.
In 2024, we fostered new coalitions with key stakeholders in HPV advocacy and policy, created innovative resources and expanded support for communities, and engaged even more people in the fight against HPV-related cancers. Thank you for your support and for being on this journey with us to make the end of HPV cancers a reality.
Some of our successes this year are detailed below.
A global call for gender-neutral HPV vaccination
2024 was the year our work to secure gender-neutral vaccination (GNV) went truly global.
In May we headed to Geneva for the 77th World Health Assembly where we participated in several symposiums and seminars focusing on HPV elimination. As part of the week’s events NOMAN hosted a side-event roundtable co-chaired by our CEO, David Winterflood, in partnership with Global Action on Men's Health (GAMH), bringing together public health leaders and policymakers to discuss advancing GNV. During the event, we highlighted our roadmap to ending HPV cancers, discussed avenues for collaboration, and identified the key barriers to and opportunities for achieving worldwide GNV.
Capturing the evidence and knowledge from this roundtable, in September we launched our new report ‘Boys, Men and HPV: A global call for gender-neutral HPV vaccination’ at the UICC World Cancer Congress. Calling for a more ambitious, ethical and ethical approach to HPV vaccination at the global level, our goal is clear: by 2030, all countries without an HPV vaccination programme should have introduced HPV vaccination on a gender-neutral basis, while countries currently with a girls-only programme should have transitioned to GNV.
Traditionally, HPV prevention programs have focused on vaccinating girls, as the majority of HPV cancer cases affect females, particularly cervical cancer. However, evidence is growing regarding the burden of HPV disease in males. To succeed in our global health efforts to eliminate cervical cancer in line with the WHO objective, protecting males is the pragmatic solution, enabling us to accelerate elimination efforts, in addition to removing barriers to immunisation.
Our 6 recommendations for global and national stakeholders are:
1. HPV must be understood, and responded to, as a threat to the health of all sexes and genders.
2. GNV should be viewed from the perspective of its potential to eliminate high-risk, oncogenic HPV types, thereby accelerating the elimination of not only cervical cancer but also all the cancers caused by HPV.
3. By 2028, global policymakers should have reviewed the issue of GNV with a view to recommending its implementation. WHO should make boys a primary target for HPV vaccination.
4. By 2030, all countries currently without an HPV vaccination programme should have introduced HPV vaccination on a gender-neutral basis while countries currently with a girls-only programme should have transitioned to GNV.
5. Health partnerships between countries with established GNV programmes and lower-income countries should be established along with capacity-building initiatives to support the wider implementation of GNV.
6. A greater focus is needed on increasing vaccine uptake to at least 90% for all, a target most likely to be achieved through school-based vaccination programmes.
GNV is not a novel concept. Updating WHO policy to recognise the importance of protecting both boys and girls would act as a catalyst to strengthen and accelerate progress towards the elimination of all HPV cancers. Already endorsed by over 30 organisations from around the world, this call to action is already serving as a centerpiece for our advocacy work, in order to safeguard the health of current generations, male and female, but also to pave the way for a future where HPV-related cancers and diseases are relics of the past.
Read our report:
Boys, Men & HPV A call for global gender-neutral vaccination.
Ending HPV Cancers in Europe
5 years ago we partnered with the European Cancer Organisation, united in a vision to end cancers caused by HPV in Europe. In 2024, the HPV Action Network made further progress towards protecting children across the continent.
The EPF/ECO HPV Prevention Policy Atlas launched in 2023 serves as a powerful advocacy tool to engage politicians and policy makers by providing information on the inequalities that exist in HPV prevention, along with recommendations for legislators to tackle HPV cancers. In 2024, we expanded from this foundation by convening organisations and individuals with direct experience of advocacy campaigns on HPV cancer elimination from a variety of countries, in order to share with each other experiences and learnings about effective advocacy campaigns on HPV. The key takeaways were distilled into a written report ‘Advocating for Action on HPV: Lessons and Legacies’ detailing eight essential ingredients for advocacy success. This will serve as a useful resource for organisations who are beginning, or are indeed in the midst of their own campaigns to advocate for better HPV prevention policy.
The HPV Action Now campaigns in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania continue to unite national organisations and institutions to mobilise and join forces to implement policies aimed at increasing HPV vaccination, screening and information coverage. Each month the networks convene physicians, scientists, public health experts, and representatives of mothers and young people from all over the respective countries in order to address and identify opportunities for improvement. Successes in 2024 include working with the Romania Football Federation to raise awareness on the importance of screening and vaccination, in stadiums on matchdays, hosting a roundtable on HPV-related diseases and the situation in Bulgaria and Europe in the Bulgarian Parliament, and meetings with the Director of the Croatian Institute of Public Health and other stakeholders to discuss recommendations of the Croatian Initiative against cancer caused by HPV on the prevention of HPV by vaccination and the improvement of the national cervical cancer screening program. In Spring 2024, Bulgaria became the latest country in the region to commit to GNV.
In June, the Council of the European Union adapted a groundbreaking set of recommendations to increase vaccination rates against both the human papillomavirus (HPV) and hepatitis B virus (Hep B) and to combat cancers caused by these two viruses. This includes ensuring that vaccination against HPV and HBV is free of charge and easily accessible, improving communication about vaccination among parents and young people, and combat mis- and disinformation and integrating immunisation against vaccine-preventable cancers into their national cancer plans. Whilst these recommendations are a welcome addition and show clear commitment to expanding access to prevention methods there is still opportunity for improvement such as the establishment of a target for HPV immunisation coverage in boys.
The work of the HPV Action network continues to draw insights from, and contribute valuable knowledge to PROTECT-EUROPE, an EU4Health Project that champions gender-neutral vaccination programmes in EU Member States to provide protection for everyone against cancers caused by HPV. In particular, the project provides EU Member States with guidance on communication on HPV vaccination between clinicians and young people and their parents/caregivers, developing effective public health messaging on HPV vaccination aimed at young people and their parents/caregivers and proposing innovations that improve uptake (e.g. bundling adolescent vaccines).
In 2019, GNV was a novel concept. Today, all EU member states have now begun or committed to immunising both girls and boys against HPV. In 2025 we will make the case for change in the Europe, beyond the borders of the European Union. ‘A Shared Vision for South East Europe: Eliminating HPV Cancers Together’ will be hosted in the Bulgarian parliament in January and provide a forum to discuss challenges and opportunities in combating HPV cancers across countries in the region including Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia.
Shaping the conversation around HPV
We continue to inform the discussion around HPV and its connection to cancers in males as well as females, and why protecting everyone is vital if we are to eliminate all HPV cancers. Throughout 2024, NOMAN presented and participated at forums across the globe including:
The Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative (CCEI) third partners meeting at WHO in the Palais des Nations, Geneva. Discussions focused on policy and advocacy, innovation and implementation, and general engagement strategies with global stakeholders.
'Co-creating priorities for cancer 2030 with people affected by cancer and emergent leaders' at the WHO, discussing opportunities to ensure that we eliminate barriers to cancer care for cancer patients and ensure that no one is left behind.
The first ever ‘Males and HPV’ session, and 'Harnessing the Power of Cross-sectoral and Country-based Partners for Cervical Cancer Elimination’ at the International Papillomavirus Conference (IPVC) in Edinburgh, sharing our story of how NOMAN’s mission was inspired by personal tragedy, and our achievements during the last 14 years, in addition to providing reflections on 10 years of the Barcelona - Ibiza: Row to End HPV as a vehicle to engage the public and policymakers alike in our mission to end all HPV cancers.
‘Going Global - Eliminating HPV and Hep B in Europe and beyond’ at the European Cancer Summit in Brussels, reflecting on 5 years of achievement of the HPV Action network in Europe, and sharing our new global call to action report.
Co-chairing the roundtable ‘Men and Cancer: Improving Outcomes, Saving Lives’ at ESMO-Asia in Singapore, bringing together prominent figures in the HPV, cancer, and public health domains from across Asia who are concerned about men's cancer incidence and mortality, and the role gender-neutral HPV vaccination can play in improving outcomes.
As we continue our work building consensus to support our global goal of GNV by 2030, we look forward to deepening collaboration with partners nationally and regionally in 2025, in Europe, Asia and at a global level.
Thank you for your generosity and unwavering support.
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