HPV immunization policies
First Nations, Inuit and Métis
First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities have rich cultural knowledge and community resilience. They continue to experience poorer cancer outcomes than non-Indigenous people in Canada due to inequities and barriers in accessing care, especially culturally appropriate care. Contributing to these inequities are historical trauma and abuse, colonization and ongoing systemic racism. Meaningful engagement with youth, extended family, and kinship networks, along with opportunities for community knowledge sharing events, can facilitate removing barriers for receiving HPV immunizations.1-3
- Inequities contribute to higher HPV infection rates and higher rates of cancer, including invasive cervical cancer, among First Nations, Inuit and Métis compared to non-Indigenous people in Canada.
- Through projects and engagements co-led between UPHN and First Nations, Inuit, and Métis organizations, mistrust in the healthcare system due to historic and ongoing systemic medical racism, as well as a lack of Peoples-specific and community-specific information were strongly cited as barriers to accessing health services and HPV immunization.
- Métis participants indicated that receiving information from trusted Indigenous sources using neutral language and an evidence-based harm reduction approach would support them in their decision to receive vaccines.
- Inuit participants indicated that community-specific information and programming would support awareness and understanding of HPV, the HPV vaccine, and HPV-related cancers.
- First Nation participants indicated that community knowledge sharing events can support awareness and understanding of HPV, the HPV vaccine, and HPV-related cancers.
- Rural and remote First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities experience distinct geographic access barriers.3
Immunization programs should build on the strengths of communities and should eliminate the specific barriers experienced by First Nations, Inuit and Métis. A distinctions-based and collaborative approach is essential in developing successful and appropriate interventions.
- Letendre A, King K, Hutchinson P, Ghostkeeper EE. Metis Science and Perspectives on Cancer in the Context of HPV and HPV Vaccine Uptake. In: Garvey G, editor. Indigenous and Tribal Peoples and Cancer2024. p. 151-5.
- Henderson RI, Shea-Budgell M, Healy C, Letendre A, Bill L, Healy B, et al. First nations people’s perspectives on barriers and supports for enhancing HPV vaccination: Foundations for sustainable, community-driven strategies. Gynecol Oncol. 2018;149(1):93-100. Epub 2018/04/02. doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2017.12.024. PubMed PMID: 29605057.
- Urban Public Health Network. Solutions to increase youth HPV immunization in Canada 2025. Available from: https://uphn.ca/Solutions-to-Increase-Youth-HPV-Immunization.