Cancer-preventing vaccination programs in prison: promoting health equity in Europe.

The most important human oncogenic viruses are hepatitis B virus (HBV) and human papillomavirus (HPV). The roll-out of vaccinations against HPV and HBV is a significant public health initiative with robust evidence of impact on the prevention of infection and neoplastic disease sequelae . Incarcerated individuals frequently have suboptimal immunisation levels for a wide variety of vaccine-preventable diseases, including HBV and HPV, and a high burden of disease for HBV/HPV-related cancers. In this Personal View, we analyse evidence regarding HBV and HPV vaccination in prison settings in 20 European countries and integrate it with existing scientific literature to discuss the rationale and possible strategies to expand cancer-preventing vaccination in prison populations. Enhancing HBV/HPV vaccination offer and uptake of HBV/HPV vaccination for this population would not only contribute to reducing the derived burden among the European population, but would also foster health equity and boost efforts towards the attainment of global and regional public health targets.
Competing Interests: MPTF, JM and AB received all support for the present manuscript and for attending meetings and/or travel from the RISE-Vac project co-funded by the European Union’s 3rd Health Programme. LT has received funding and grants from Italian public institutions and the EU and consulting fees from WHO Health in Prison Programme. Other authors declare no competing interests. The content of this manuscript represents the views of the authors only and is their sole responsibility; it cannot be considered to reflect the views of the European Commission and/or the Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) or any other body of the European Union. The European Commission and the Agency do not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains.
(© 2024 The Authors.)