Community groups to increase Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination through Participatory Learning and Action, Reducing barriers and increasing community Mobilisation in Zambia (CHARMZ) project.

Abstract

Background Zambia has a high incidence of cervical cancer. Uptake of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine has been low since it first became available in Zambia in 2013. Community mobilisation and engagement with civil society has been identified as a key component of HPV vaccination programs in low and middle-income countries. Of the evidence available on community-based interventions in the context of HPV, participatory approaches which work closely with local stakeholders to identify and overcome barriers to HPV vaccination uptake have shown promising results. This is a proposal for a community-based cluster randomised controlled trial to increase HPV vaccination uptake in Zambia through a participatory learning and action (PLA) cycle approach in community groups. PLA is an approach in which participants identify and prioritise problems, and subsequently develop, implement and evaluate solutions to improve the health needs of their community. Key stakeholders to be engaged in this project include government members, policymakers, healthcare, donors and relevant non-governmental organisations (NGO), religious leaders, and civil society members. Formative research will be carried out with key stakeholders through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. The community group intervention will be facilitated by local healthcare workers from the cervical cancer prevention program in Zambia (CCPPZ).Results Success will be indicated by an increase in HPV vaccination uptake. The primary outcome will be HPV vaccination rates measured quantitatively. Data will be gathered once at the start of the study, once midway through the PLA phase and once during the post-intervention phase. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews will allow for measurement of secondary outcomes both quantitatively and qualitatively, including perceived (i) HPV vaccination and cervical cancer knowledge, (ii) acceptability, accessibility and equitability of the HPV vaccination, as well as (iii) attitudes of female group members towards other cervical cancer screening and treatment services.Conclusions There is a need to address the high cervical cancer disease burden in Zambia. This would be the first intervention aiming to increase HPV vaccination uptake in Zambia through a low-cost, sustainable and scalable community-based participatory learning and action cycle approach.