SMS Reminders to Strengthen Demand for HPV Vaccination in Georgia

It is possible that achieving adequate HPV vaccination coverage will allow cervical cancer to be virtually eliminated. This is a priority for Georgia, where the burden of mortality and morbidity from cervical cancer is high and the yearly prevalence of cervical cancer is 14.5 per 100,000 population. The objective of the intervention evaluated is to increase the uptake of the 1st dose of the HPV vaccination in Georgia. The intervention aims to achieve this by providing a SMS reminder informed by behavioural insights (BI) to remind caregivers of girls between 10-12 years that their daughter is due the first dose of her HPV vaccination, share information about the vaccine, and encourage them to book an appointment to receive the vaccination. Four different SMS messages will be compared to no SMS message. The evaluation will be a 5-arm randomised controlled trial (RCT) which aims to answer the research question: Does each of the designed BI-informed SMS reminders increase the uptake of the first dose of the HPV vaccination among eligible girls in Georgia, compared to no reminder? Our hypothesis is that SMS reminders will increase the uptake of HPV vaccination.