Acceptability of an integrated school-based HPV vaccination program within two districts of Tanzania: A qualitative descriptive study

Tanzania has one of the highest cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates in sub-Saharan Africa. The Tanzanian Ministry of Health developed an integrated adolescent health program, HPV-Plus, that combines HPV vaccination with additional health services: nutritional assessments, vision screening, and vaccination for adolescent girls, and education for all genders. This qualitative descriptive study evaluated the acceptability of the HPV-Plus program in two districts in Tanzania. Key informants comprising of adolescent girls, parents, program planners, and program implementers in Njombe and Dar es Salaam Tanzania were interviewed to assess the program acceptability. Transcripts were analyzed using a team-based iterative thematic analysis approach, consisting of both inductive and deductive coding. The Theoretical Framework of Acceptability was used to guide analysis, with themes categorized according to theoretical constructs of intervention coherence, affective attitudes and perceptions, and perceived effectiveness. Overall acceptability of the HPV-Plus program was high among stakeholders. The most salient finding regarding factors that influenced HPV vaccine acceptability was largely related to education and knowledge levels surrounding the HPV, cervical cancer, and HPV vaccines. The educational component of the HPV-Plus program was key in increasing acceptability. Parents reported the lowest acceptability towards the program. This was found to be primarily due to perceptions of not being sufficiently engaged throughout program implementation. Increasing acceptability of HPV vaccination programs among key stakeholders is critical to facilitating vaccine uptake and meeting vaccination coverage targets. Our results demonstrate that the inclusion of a comprehensive education component within the HPV-Plus program was key in facilitating HPV vaccine acceptability amongst stakeholders.