Romanians’ Confidence in HPV Vaccine Increases According to European Commission Report, Urges National Action for Prevention and Information Campaigns

In Romania, 8 out of 10 parents consider the HPV vaccine to be important, safe and effective – European Commission Report on the Situation of Trust in Vaccines in EU Member States

Romanians’ confidence in vaccines registered a positive evolution in 2022, compared to 2020, and confidence in the safety of the HPV vaccine had one of the biggest increases at EU level

The need for information and prevention about the HPV virus at the national level, confirmed by the latest studies

The Renaissance Foundation and MSD România continues information efforts regarding the risks associated with HPV infection and the importance of vaccination to prevent cancers caused by HPV infection

Bucharest, April 24, 2023: In the context of the European Vaccination Week (April 23-29, 2023), national and international organizations draw attention to the need to increase vaccination rates by prioritizing vaccination as an essential public health serviceimproving awareness of the importance of vaccination in avoiding immunization-preventable diseases and confidence in vaccination – determinants for optimizing vaccination rates at European level. The Renaștea Foundation and MSD Romania join these efforts and continue the information efforts regarding the danger of infection with the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and the importance of preventing cancers and other conditions caused by HPV infection through immunization.

MSD Romania is involved with civil society in awareness campaigns regarding the danger of HPV infection and the importance of counteracting by vaccination the risk of getting sick with this very widespread virus. Thus, the most recent initiative for information-awareness of the population is the project through which Renaissance Foundation bring #HotărăstePentruViitor caravan in 17 rural and urban communities from the counties of Bacău, Vrancea, Iasi and Constanța. In the framework of this project, a series of information sessions were held for parents with children in adolescence and preadolescence, during which the beneficiaries of the project were able to satisfy their unmet needs for information regarding HPV infection and anti-HPV vaccination directly from specialized medical personnel. In addition to such community outreach initiatives, MSD continues the national campaign under the concept love languages, campaign centered on the online platform www.protejeaza-tedeHPV.rowhere the general public can access essential information about HPV infection, its associated risks and ways to prevent health effects.

„We have been concerned with the health of Romanian women for 21 years. Cervical cancer, one of the main causes of death from oncological diseases registered in women in Romania, can be prevented by the anti-HPV vaccine or detected in precancerous stages, by Babeș-Papanicolau screening and HPV test. Information campaign #DecisionForTheFuture is an approach we can be proud of, a project consistent with the mission of our organization to raise awareness among the population, regarding the importance of adopting a healthy lifestyle, promoting health education, strengthening civic responsibility in Romania and of creating partnerships to meet the needs of the population. Through the Campaign #DecisionForTheFuture I realized better how great is the parents’ need for information on topics of interest to children and their openness to receiving relevant information from qualified medical personnel. From the interactions with the beneficiaries in the targeted communities, we understood even better the role of some socio-economic factors in the deepening of health inequities in our society, factors that we must identify and according to which to calibrate our interventions in the community, through messages and methods suitable for each segment of the population”, declares Mihaela Geoană, President of the Renaissance Foundation.

These information-communication interventions take place in the context in which Romania is the country in the European Union with the highest burden caused by cervical cancer, given that this malignancy is almost entirely (99%) caused by HPV infection, and cervical cancer is one of the few cancers directly preventable by immunization. Among women in Romania, the risk of death from cervical cancer is four times higher than the European average, and the incidence of the disease is comparable to that recorded in less socio-economically developed countries. In addition, HPV infection is also found, to a large extent, at the origin of other types of cancer that affect both women and men, as is the case with cancers of the male or female genital organs (penis, vagina or vulva) or cancer of the anus.

Annually, in Romania, HPV infections are responsible for the appearance of almost 3400 new cases of cervical cancer and for approximately 500 new cases diagnosed with the other types of cancer attributable to HPV infection. More than 1500 women die annually in our country, although the approximately 4 deaths registered on average per day are preventable through vaccination and screening.

„Romania entered a positive evolution from the perspective of parents’ perception of their children’s HPV vaccination, a fact confirmed by the year-on-year increase in the degree of access to the National Vaccination Program. We are therefore happy to note that efforts to inform and collaborate with the authorities involved, health professionals and civil society are beginning to bear fruit. That is precisely why we must continue this productive partnership, so as to respond to the need for public health, to support progress towards one of the most important objectives for Romanian society, respectively the elimination of cancers caused by HPV, starting with cervical cancer, said Marcelo Pascual Morales, Director General of MSD Romania and the Republic of Moldova.

The analysis carried out by the Renaissance Foundation regarding the results of the caravan #DecisionForTheFuture he showed that the community information intervention was very well received by the beneficiaries, with the majority stating that the information sessions they benefited from helped them improve their knowledge of the effects of HPV infection (83%) and the HPV vaccine (82%), but and that participation in the intervention facilitated their decision to vaccinate their children (75%). On this occasion, 4 out of 10 parents they learned for the first time that they have the opportunity to vaccinate their child against HPV, free of charge, in the framework National Vaccination Program of the Ministry of Health. Overall, over half (59%) of the parents surveyed stated at the end of the sessions that they intend to vaccinate their child, but it was found that openness to vaccination is substantially lower among those with a very low standard of living (24%) and have a low level of education (14% intention to vaccinate the child among those with at most primary school education, 37% among parents with at most secondary school education).