Family Physicians Suggest Free HPV Vaccinations

In a letter to Captain Angela Shen, Designated Federal Officer National Vaccine Program Office U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) is calling for expanded Human Papillomavirus (HPV) coverage.

The AAFP said ‘The AAFP urges physicians to strongly recommend the HPV vaccine to their patients.’

‘And, it is our position that all public and private insurers should include, as a covered benefit, immunizations recommended by the AAFP, without copayments or deductibles.’

This AAFP letter said:

On behalf of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), which represents 131,400 family physicians and medical students across the country, I write in response to the solicitation for comments on the Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Implementation Work Group Draft Report and Draft Recommendations as published by the National Vaccine Program Office in the May 31, 2018 Federal Register.

The AAFP appreciates that HHS charged the National Vaccine Advisory Committee to establish a work group to produce a draft report on recommendations to strengthen the effectiveness of national, state, and local efforts to improve Human Papillomavirus (HPV) coverage rates.

Despite overwhelming evidence of the safety and effectiveness of the HPV vaccine, vaccination rates remain low.

The currently available HPV vaccine is the 9-valent human papillomavirus (9vHPV) vaccine. This vaccine protects against the most common HPV types, which cause 90% of cervical, vaginal, vulvar, anal, and penile cancers.

Additionally, this vaccine prevents HPV types that cause genital warts in both males and females.

Given this, we share HHS’s goal of improving HPV coverage rates and it is the AAFP’s policy on immunizations to endorse the concept that all children and adults, regardless of economic and insurance status, should have access to all immunizations recommended by the AAFP.

Furthermore, it is our position that all public and private insurers should include, as a covered benefit, immunizations recommended by the AAFP without copayments or deductibles.

In Focus Area 4 of the draft report regarding “the needs of providers in rural areas”, the AAFP is concerned that the associated recommendations assume that all physicians already have a sound knowledge base and are recommending the vaccine, but ineffectively.

We believe more HPV education and an increase in knowledge base regarding the vaccine and HPV-related cancers is necessary for physicians and healthcare professionals and should be offered in addition to the communication skills to recommend the vaccine.’

Separately, the AAFP said in a press release, ‘The HPV vaccine is an effective safeguard against the infection that causes most cervical cancers, as well as other HPV-associated cancers and genital warts in both genders.

When the agency set the 2020 goal, the vaccine had been available for only a few years, and parents voiced skepticism about the need for its use -- a hindrance that has persisted in many cases.

But in 2016, according to the CDC, 60 percent of teens ages 13-17 received one or more doses of the vaccine, an increase of 4 percentage points over the previous year.

Still, too many children are entering adulthood without this important protection, the AAFP recently told HHS.

"Despite overwhelming evidence of the safety and effectiveness of the HPV vaccine, vaccination rates remain low," the Academy wrote.

"We share HHS' goal of improving HPV coverage rates," the letter said.