Papillomavirus: currently only 10% of 5th grade middle school students have been vaccinated

As expected, the college’s HPV vaccination campaign did not achieve the expected success. According to the first preliminary data from the Ministry of Health, only 10% of 5th grade students have received the first dose of the vaccine.

“According to reports from regional health authorities, as of December 23, 2023, at least 92,262 students were vaccinated in colleges,” the General Directorate of Health indicated.

“At this stage of the secondary school HPV vaccination campaign, figures show the vaccination rate among Year 5 students is around 10%,” she said. We are far from the goal set by the Department of Health in early September, which was to have at least 30% of students vaccinated at the college for this first graduating class.

Promised at the beginning of 2023 by President Emmanuel Macron, this vaccination campaign against the human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes numerous types of cancer (cervical, vulvar, vaginal, ENT, anal, etc.), was launched in early October in all public places. colleges and voluntary private institutions.

Under questioning in November, Aurélien Rousseau, then health minister, acknowledged that the government’s original target would likely not be met, but hoped that 150,000 grade 5 students could be vaccinated this year. “This is just the beginning, it will take persistence,” he said, referring to the need to “adapt the tools.”

“A bit complicated” organization

At the beginning of January, representatives of the French Society of Colposcopy and Cervicovaginal Pathology (SFCPCV) concluded that this vaccination was far from expectations, and the first impression was “disappointing”. For the SFCPCV, the campaign suffered, among other things, because the administrative organization was “a little heavy and complicated”.

“Colleges received large envelopes to distribute to parents with an information letter (…) and a power of attorney, which both parents had to sign. And on the day of vaccination, you will also need a medical card,” recalls Geoffroy Canlorbe, secretary general of the Scientific Society and AP-HP practitioner.

The campaign may also have been affected by the death of a schoolboy near Nantes who fell due to discomfort after being vaccinated. The General Secretariat for Catholic Education recommended at the end of October that it be “suspended” on the contract at Catholic colleges “out of precaution.”

According to the regional health agency, a subsequent administrative investigation did not reveal any “violations in the organization of the vaccination campaign.”

14% of Parisian students received it.

Thanks to an information and communication campaign launched since September by the National Cancer Institute (INCA), it is possible that the operation “will lead to an increase in the number of vaccinations” by doctors in their offices, however, according to the General Directorate of Health.

The city of Paris, where the vaccination rate has reached 14%, intends to take advantage of the second dose, which will be administered in March, to roll out a new communication campaign: “we are going to prepare forms in several languages, from WhatsApp formats to be distributed to groups of parents,” explained the assistant doctor ( ecologists) Anne-Claire Bou.

“We saw that the more disadvantaged the families, the lower the membership levels. We must focus our efforts on establishments in working-class neighborhoods,” she added.

“The private sector has not played this game,” said Serge Vallet, a member of the CGT’s national executive commission for private education, lamenting the lack of “communication commensurate with the ‘stake’.”

Possible adaptations

A more accurate estimate of the total number of students vaccinated with the first dose will be made in the first quarter of 2024, and a full estimate of this first year of the campaign – that is, the number of students vaccinated who have received two doses. vaccines will not be known until the end of the school year.

Based on the lessons learned from this assessment, “the authorities will make any possible adjustments” next year, the Ministry of Health assured.

It has been confirmed that whether this vaccination is carried out in a college or in a city, the target for vaccination coverage by 2030 will be 80%.