AIM and the National HPV Vaccination Roundtable Mark International HPV Awareness Day with Call to Get Kids 'Back on Track'

ROCKVILLE, Md., Feb. 28, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Association of Immunization Managers (AIM) and the National HPV Vaccination Roundtable, will highlight International Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Awareness Day on March 4 by releasing a video urging health care providers to recommend HPV vaccine and to educate the public about the importance of the HPV vaccine and other routine vaccinations which have been delayed or deferred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the wake of COVID-19, vaccination rates have dropped for several preventable diseases. Children and adolescents are more vulnerable to these diseases when routine vaccinations are missed. Every year in the United States, more than 35,000 men and women are estimated to be diagnosed with a cancer caused by HPV. HPV vaccination could prevent more than 90 percent of these cancers from ever developing, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Children may receive the HPV vaccine starting at age nine to significantly reduce the likelihood of developing HPV-related cancers.

"Our mission at AIM is to reduce, eliminate, or eradicate vaccine-preventable disease," said Claire Hannan, executive director of AIM. "More than 135 million doses of HPV vaccine have been given in the United States. These vaccines are safe and very effective at protecting our nation's children and young adults from developing at least six different types of cancer. We hope HPV Awareness Day will encourage health care providers to recommend HPV vaccination to patients, and parents and caregivers to get their children vaccinated."

The National HPV Vaccination Roundtable, a co-branding partner for the HPV Awareness Day video, is a coalition of 70 organizations who, since 2014, have been working on a collective mission to raise HPV vaccination rates and prevent HPV cancers.

"We believe that by working together over the long term, we can move towards ending vaccine-preventable HPV cancers as a public health problem," said Dr. Debbie Saslow, vice-chair of the HPV Roundtable. "The current reality is that we have to get adolescents and pre-teens back in for wellness visits and their preventive vaccines after disruptions to their medical care delivery."

To learn more about HPV and the HPV vaccine, watch the full HPV Awareness Day video when it launches on March 4 here: https://www.immunizationmanagers.org/resources/international-hpv-awareness-day-toolkit/

About Association of Immunization Managers:
The Association of Immunization Managers (AIM) is a non-profit membership association comprised of representatives from 64 federally-funded state, territorial and local National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases awardees. AIM is dedicated to working with its partners nationwide to reduce, eliminate or eradicate vaccine preventable diseases. AIM also works to ensure the success of its members by providing support in their programming interests. Since 1999, AIM has enabled collaboration among immunization managers to effectively control vaccine-preventable diseases and improve immunization coverage in the United States. For more information on AIM, please visit http://www.immunizationmanagers.org/.

This video was made possible through independent financial support from Merck & Co., Inc.. AIM controlled all of the content in this video and no participants received funding for their contribution.

Media Contact

Hari Rajagopalan, Kimball Hughes Public Relations, 6105597585, [email protected]

SOURCE Association of Immunization Managers (AIM)