Equity-Driven HPV Prevention in Palestine: The first Physician-Led Primary Care Model (2024–2025)
1
family medicine, palestine polytechnic university, hebron, Palestinian Territory, Occupied
Popul. Med. 2026;8(Supplement Supplement 1):
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Cervical cancer is largely preventable through vaccination and screening, yet many settings face low awareness, stigma, and constrained services. In Palestine, limited public knowledge and variable acceptability of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination support an equity-oriented, primary-care response aligned with WHO cervical cancer elimination targets and the Congress theme “Health Without Borders: Equity, Inclusion, and Sustainability.”
METHODS:
We describe Palestine’s first physician-led program on human papillomavirus awareness and targeted vaccination (2024–2025), implemented with primary-care and community partners in a resource-constrained and unstable context. Activities were delivered through four linked streams: (1) culturally adapted community education (sessions, media interviews, and tailored materials addressing myths and stigma); (2) professional training for family physicians, nurses, midwives, and pharmacists on indications, dosing schedules, safety, and counselling techniques; (3) case-based vaccination using shared decision-making (routine vaccination for ages 9–26 and shared clinical decision-making for adults 27–45 years who might benefit); and (4) referral pathways connecting primary care with gynecology and laboratory services for HPV testing and colposcopy when clinically indicated.
RESULTS:
Outreach reached hundreds of community members, and structured workshops engaged dozens of clinicians. Targeted vaccination was provided to high-risk adults after counseling. Key lessons included trust-building communication, clear safety and dosing messages to increase acceptance among both the public and providers, and culturally sensitive delivery to reduce stigma; female health educators improved participation in several settings. Equity- and sustainability-focused scale-up priorities included reliable vaccine supply, locally adapted communication, simple data systems to monitor counseling and doses, and formal partnerships with ministries, universities, and NGOs, with integration into adolescent and women’s health services.
CONCLUSIONS:
A physician-initiated, primary-care-led model integrating education, workforce training, shared-decision vaccination, and referral linkages is feasible in Palestine and offers a pragmatic pathway to expand equitable prevention services in fragile settings.
Cervical cancer is largely preventable through vaccination and screening, yet many settings face low awareness, stigma, and constrained services. In Palestine, limited public knowledge and variable acceptability of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination support an equity-oriented, primary-care response aligned with WHO cervical cancer elimination targets and the Congress theme “Health Without Borders: Equity, Inclusion, and Sustainability.”
METHODS:
We describe Palestine’s first physician-led program on human papillomavirus awareness and targeted vaccination (2024–2025), implemented with primary-care and community partners in a resource-constrained and unstable context. Activities were delivered through four linked streams: (1) culturally adapted community education (sessions, media interviews, and tailored materials addressing myths and stigma); (2) professional training for family physicians, nurses, midwives, and pharmacists on indications, dosing schedules, safety, and counselling techniques; (3) case-based vaccination using shared decision-making (routine vaccination for ages 9–26 and shared clinical decision-making for adults 27–45 years who might benefit); and (4) referral pathways connecting primary care with gynecology and laboratory services for HPV testing and colposcopy when clinically indicated.
RESULTS:
Outreach reached hundreds of community members, and structured workshops engaged dozens of clinicians. Targeted vaccination was provided to high-risk adults after counseling. Key lessons included trust-building communication, clear safety and dosing messages to increase acceptance among both the public and providers, and culturally sensitive delivery to reduce stigma; female health educators improved participation in several settings. Equity- and sustainability-focused scale-up priorities included reliable vaccine supply, locally adapted communication, simple data systems to monitor counseling and doses, and formal partnerships with ministries, universities, and NGOs, with integration into adolescent and women’s health services.
CONCLUSIONS:
A physician-initiated, primary-care-led model integrating education, workforce training, shared-decision vaccination, and referral linkages is feasible in Palestine and offers a pragmatic pathway to expand equitable prevention services in fragile settings.
| eISSN: | 2654-1459 |
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