U.S. Taxpayer Funded Initiative Trains Dentists to Push HPV Vaccine
- by Natasha Hobley
- Published November 21, 2023
- Medical Trade
In recent years, government health agencies, cancer societies, as well as the American Dental Association (ADA), have attempted to recruit dentists to advocate for patients to get the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to prevent oral cancers. An HPV Vaccine Roundtable initiative, funded largely by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), advises dentists to “know their unique role” and “capitalize on adolescent patient visits” to “strongly and clearly” promote HPV vaccination to all eligible patients.
Last month, the taxpayer-funded National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) awarded over $685,000 to the Health Partners Institute to research and test strategies to persuade dentists to advocate for the HPV vaccine for patients ages 11 to 26.1
No Randomized Clinical Trials to Prove Effectiveness of HPV Vaccine in Preventing Oral Cancers
The justification for this push comes partially from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which added the prevention of oropharyngeal cancer to the list of indications for the HPV vaccine in June 2020, despite a lack of scientific evidence.1 2 Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association looking at rates of HPV in vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals from 2009 to 2016 concluded that, “Prevention of oral HPV infections and oropharyngeal cancers is not a vaccine indication because of lack of randomized trials.”2
The initiative is likely also part of the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) aggressive goal to achieve an 80 percent HPV vaccine uptake rate among children by 2026.3
In 2018, the ADA adopted a policy urging dentists to support and promote the administration of the HPV vaccine.4 Last year, the association approved a new insurance billing code for oral health providers to also administer the vaccine.5
Dentists Reluctant to Market HPV Vaccine, Government Officials Want to Convince Them to Change Their Minds
However, dentists remain largely reluctant to recommend or administer the HPV vaccine to patients. Researchers have found a general lack of knowledge about HPV vaccine among oral health care professionals, as well as general “discomfort in initiating a sensitive conversation about HPV.”4
The $685,000 federal funding initiative aims to change the reluctance among dentists to recommend and give the HPV vaccine to patients.
The taxpayer-funded money will be used to experiment with training dental providers to become more confident in their knowledge and deliver scripted messages about why patients should get the HPV vaccine. HealthPartners, the agency being paid to run the trial, will start the HPV vaccine marketing initiative in 21 dental clinics, with the goal of successfully implementing behavior modification among dentists.
According to to Children’s Health Defense (CHD), who acquired the documentation, the grant is one of nearly 50 total grants that combined, total more than $40 million awarded by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to increase HPV vaccine uptake. Funding was provided to universities, healthcare systems, and public health departments.1
Gardasil Vaccine Controversial Since It Was Fast Tracked to Licensure in 2006
HPV is the most commonly transmitted sexually transmitted infection in the United States. The HPV vaccine known as Gardasil is manufactured by Merck and is recommended to begin by age 11 or 12, but children as young as nine years old can get the shots according to the CDC.6
Most sexually active people will get the HPV infection at some point in their lives. In most cases, the body clears the virus on its own with no complications, although a small minority can go on to have a chronic HPV infection that, after many years, can lead to cancer.3
Gardasil was the first “fast tracked” vaccine, and it has been controversial since it was licensed by the FDA in 2006. From the outset, there were concerns about the fast-tracked designation and reported clinical trial data that was selectively chosen to increase the appearance of positive results. For example, the FDA allowed Merck to use an aluminum-containing placebo as a control, even though an aluminum adjuvant is an ingredient in the vaccine.
Reports of serious complications following Gardasil shots were reported throughout the world shortly after its licensure in 2006 and continue.3
More Parents Rejecting HPV Vaccine for Their Children
More and more parents are rejecting the HPV vaccine for their children and teens, according to the June 2023 edition of the Pediatrics journal. Researchers found that the number of parents citing “safety or side effects” as a reason to decline uptake increased by 15.6 percent from 2010 to 2018.
Other cited concerns with lack of necessity, lack of recommendation, lack of knowledge, or that their children were not sexually active.7
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