Since 2016, Girl Effect and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, have been testing, learning and adapting girl-centered communications to create demand for the HPV vaccine. Our HPV-related content is successfully reaching and engaging girls at scale in Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda and Tanzania.
As we now have evidence of what works and how it can be used effectively by others, Girl Effect has launched a Girl Focus Toolkit to support ministries of health in countries where we do not operate to develop effective ‘girl-focused’ HPV vaccine communications.
The Girl Focus Toolkit was tested, adapted and evaluated through collaborations with partners in Lao PDR, Cote d’Ivoire and Liberia in 2019. Designed to help ministries of health and technical partners create girl-focused HPV vaccination materials, the toolkit is adaptable regardless of timeline, resources or budget.
The toolkit was created out of recognition that the HPV vaccine is still very new and so there is a real need to build trust in the vaccine. As the vaccine is given to girls aged 9-14 years old, girl focused communications are needed to speak directly to girls and ensure they understand the benefit of the vaccine, trust its safety and receive both doses.
At this critical stage of life, a positive vaccine experience can put girls on a positive trajectory for future health seeking behaviour. Girls and their caregivers can have many questions about the vaccine, so there is an additional need for communications that accompany the vaccine to be sensitively and appropriately designed.
Watch this introductory video
The Toolkit’s primary purpose is to help governments to deliver an effective ‘girl-focused’ HPV vaccine campaign regardless of timeline, resources or budget