HPV Vaccination Equity Initiative

Did You Know?

• Cervical cancer rates in Georgia average about 8 per 100,000 women, slightly higher than the national average.
• Cervical cancer incidence rates in some Georgia counties are even higher, and among Black women, mortality rates are almost 1.5x as high as White women.
• Georgia ranks 30th in the nation for its human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine coverage rate of 61.5%.
• Communities that may have experienced institutional and structural racism could have higher rates of certain cancers due to mistrust in health systems.
• The HPV Vaccine can prevent certain cancers caused by the HPV virus.

Find Help

Consult with your personal physician about the recommended HPV vaccine.

Locations across Chatham County that offer no-cost vaccines or can help the underinsured and uninsured connect with those resources include:

• Coastal Health District’s Eisenhower Clinic 
• J. C. Lewis Primary Health Care
• Curtis V Cooper Primary Health Care

For more information about these and other providers, visit the HERO database, click “health care,” and select “low-cost medical services.”

Training

Under the one-year HPV Vaccination Equity Initiative grant, Community Health Advocates (CHAs) will be trained to share information about the benefits of the HPV vaccine and help connect community members with healthcare providers that provide the vaccine. Additionally, the CHAs will provide information to uninsured and underinsured about free or low-cost programs offering HPV vaccines, which help protect individuals ages 9 to 45 against certain cancers, including cervical, vaginal, vulvar, anal, and oral.

If you want to become a Community Health Advocate or learn about the CHA program, visit https://healthysavannah.org/2021/07/09/community-advocate-program/.

Learn More

For more information about the HPV Vaccination Equity Initiative, email Patricia Merritt at patricia@healthysavannah.org.

Resources

• Human Papillomavirus (HPV) 
• Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination: What Everyone Should Know 
• Your Child’s Vaccines: Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine
  
  

ABOUT THE HEALTHY SAVANNAH HPV VACCINATION EQUITY INITIATIVE GRANT

In February 2024, the CHC: Creating Healthier Communities awarded a one-year $150,000 grant to Healthy Savannah to promote vaccine equity to prevent cancer and support new and expanded community-driven solutions to address social and other factors that negatively impact access to cancer prevention interventions for disproportionately affected populations in the Savannah area. Specifically, the grant will support Healthy Savannah’s initiatives in developing, implementing, and bringing resources and policy attention to solutions that break down barriers of mistrust in the healthcare system, skepticism of vaccine effectiveness, and lack of awareness about vaccine access and the availability of prevention interventions for certain cancers. Healthy Savannah is one of only three organizations across the state of Georgia to be awarded this grant and is adapting its award-winning Community Health Advocate (CHA) program and working with more than 200 community partners and organizations to foster sustainable health equity in this space. Healthy Savannah developed the CHA program during the first of two five-year CDC Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) grants it currently administers with the YMCA of Coastal Georgia. The methodology uses an “upstream” approach to foster sustainable health equity among racial and ethnic minority populations in low-wealth neighborhoods in areas of nutrition, physical activity, and the reduction of chronic diseases. In July 2022, Healthy Savannah received the CDC’s 2022 REACH Lark Galloway-Gilliam Award for Advancing Health Equity Challenge. The award recognizes extraordinary individuals and entities whose work has contributed to advancing health equity.