Persuasion via Performance: Toward a Handbook for Youth to Develop Content that Promotes HPV Vaccination.

Slightly over half of American teens are fully vaccinated against the human papillomavirus, or HPV. The vaccine is protective against 90% of cancers caused by HPV, including cancers of the vagina, vulva, and cervix in women, the penis in men, and cancers of the throat and anus in both men and women. While HPV vaccination rates are on the rise, rural areas lag significantly behind.

A Peer-Based Strategy to Overcome HPV Vaccination Inequities in Rural Communities: A Physical Distancing-Compliant Approach.

The human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine is the world's first proven and effective vaccine to prevent cancers in males and females when administered pre-exposure. Like most of the US, barely half of Vermont teens are up-to-date with the vaccination, with comparable deficits in New Hampshire and Maine. The rates for HPV vaccine initiation and completion are as low as 33% in rural New England.