June 4, 2024, If you had the power to prevent certain cancers in your family members, would you?

That’s the question Healthy Savannah is asking in a new outreach campaign intended to promote awareness and acceptance of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine vaccine in Savannah’s Black and Hispanic communities.

Cervical cancer rates in Georgia currently average about 8 per 100,000 women, slightly higher than the national average but incidence rates in some Georgia counties are even higher. Among Black women, mortality rates are almost 1.5x as high as White women.

Under a new HPV Vaccination Equity Initiative grant bestowed in February by CHC: Creating Healthier Communities, Healthy Savannah has now expanded its award-winning Community Health Advocate (CHA) program to include the benefits of HPV vaccination. The program, established in 2021 to promote awareness, acceptance and acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine, has since trained more than 80 CHAs who share science-based information and resources about all adult vaccines with people in their neighborhoods, jobs, schools, and at sporting events.

Since 2018, Healthy Savannah has been at the forefront of health equity initiatives as co-administrator of two five-year collaborative Racial & Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) grants totaling $8.5 million. The goals of the first initiative were to improve access to nutritious food, develop systemic change to create safe places for physical activity, and promote easy access to local resources. The second initiative added breastfeeding and adult immunizations and continues to emphasize the importance of policy, systems, and environmental change toward health equity. 

“Healthy Savannah’s goal with this new initiative is to bring about a culture of acceptance of the HPV vaccine in Savannah’s priority communities,” said Dr. Elsie Smalls, operations manager. “Research has shown that if the rate were to rise to 90% or better, HPV-related cervical cancer could be drastically reduced.”

After hosting a listening session on April 18, Healthy Savannah invited current, former and prospective CHAs to a training session on May 2. In the weeks following, 13 completed the training requirements and are now serving in their communities to share information about the benefits of the HPV vaccine in preventing certain cancers 

“My family experienced the loss of a loved one due to HPV,” said Charice Stroud, who was originally trained as a CHA under the COVID-19 program and returned for HPV Vaccination Equity training in May. “My hope is to help other families avoid that pain by sharing my story along with the good news that this vaccine can prevent certain cancers.”

 “As a social worker, I have been fortunate to develop a better understanding of the HPV vaccine through my training as a CHA,” said Leslie Walker, a social worker with the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System who had also participated in the initial program. “I want every parent to know they have the power to give this protection from certain cancers to their children.”

The CHAs are also helping connect community members, many of whom may be uninsured and underinsured, to 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 

Smalls recommends consulting with your physician about the recommended HPV vaccine. Several Chatham County clinics offer no-cost vaccines or can help the underinsured and uninsured connect with resources. They include Coastal Health District’s Eisenhower Clinic, J. C. Lewis Primary Health Care and Curtis V Cooper Primary Health Care. For more information, visit https://healthysavannah.org/our-programs/adult-immunization/hpv/ or visit the online HERO database at herohelpme.com, click on “health care,” and select “low-cost medical services.

Healthy Savannah is already planning another round of listening and training sessions in the months ahead. After completing the training, CHAs will receive a $600 incentive for performing community outreach activities to increase access and awareness and share information about the benefits of the HPV vaccine.

For more information about the CHA program or to attend a future listening or training session, visit https://healthysavannah.org/2021/07/09/community-advocate-program/. For more information about the HPV Vaccination Equity Initiative, email Patricia Merritt, program coordinator, at [email protected].