New Ways to Increase the HPV Vaccination Rate in Bavaria
09/16/2025Only just over one in two girls and one in three boys are vaccinated against human papillomavirus. For this reason, the Bavarian Centre for Cancer Research has now launched a comprehensive awareness campaign.
Vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) offers important protection against later cancers following such infections. In 2023, however, the HPV vaccination rate in Germany was only 55 per cent among 15-year-old girls and 34 per cent among 15-year-old boys.
The Bavarian Centre for Cancer Research (BZKF) has therefore now launched a comprehensive awareness campaign on HPV vaccination in collaboration with the Bavarian State Ministry of Health, Care and Prevention and the Bavarian State Working Group on Vaccination. This initiative is aimed in particular at doctors specialising in ear, nose and throat medicine, oral and maxillofacial surgery and dentistry.
Risk Factor for Cancers in the Throat and Pharynx Area
HP viruses not only cause gynaecological tumours such as cervical cancer, but also represent a significant risk factor for cancers of the throat and pharynx. The aim of the awareness campaign is to close the knowledge gap about the possibility of vaccination and to increase vaccination participation. Bavaria's Health and Prevention Minister Judith Gerlach emphasised: "It is important that HPV vaccination rates increase significantly. Vaccination can provide almost complete protection against infection with the most common cancer-causing HPV types. That's why we are promoting the vaccination."
Professor Claus Belka, Deputy Director of the BZKF and Director of the Clinic and Polyclinic for Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology at LMU Klinikum München, explains: "Parents and young people still know far too little about HPV and the vaccination. Under the motto 'Everyone goes to the dentist' and 'Earaches are also common', we want to win over dentists and specialists for otolaryngology as key partners in raising awareness. This will enable us to jointly reach target groups that were previously difficult to sensitise to the topic."
The HPV vaccination is carried out by doctors in private practice, in paediatric and adolescent medicine, general medicine, urology or gynaecology practices. Vaccination is recommended for girls and boys aged 9 to 14, as vaccination before the first sexual contact is most effective. Adults also benefit from vaccination, as it can protect them from HP virus types with which they have not yet had contact.
The Bavarian Centre for Cancer Research
The BZKF is an association of the six Bavarian university hospitals and universities in Augsburg, Erlangen, Munich, Regensburg and Würzburg. Founded in 2019, its aim is to offer all citizens in Bavaria access to the best possible, latest and innovative cancer therapies - regardless of where they live.
