It has been another busy year for STIEF with:
If you are in Otago Southland, you might spot this colourful sticker applied to condom vending machines about town. We were delighted to collaborate with Southern District Health Board on this initiative.
Many thanks to those of you who completed the STIEF Guidelines survey. Responses (n=94) confirmed that the Guidelines continue to be used regularly and are considered to be ‘very helpful’ or ‘extremely helpful’ by the vast majority:
Good news! Supplies of the HPV vaccine have resumed. The Ministry of Health sent out the following notification on the 11th October:
Limited supplies of HPV vaccine have now resumed to New Zealand, and were initially distributed to school-based immunisation programmes (SBIPs) to enable them to begin vaccination with dose 2 of this year’s programme. From 15 October 2018, general practices and other vaccinators will be able to order 1 box of the vaccine per fortnightly order cycle. HPV vaccine is expected to be available without restriction from mid-November 2018 as additional stock arrives. Please do not book patients in unless you have vaccine onsite.
Patients who have turned 27 years of age since 1 April 2018 and who receive their first dose of HPV vaccine by 1 April 2019 will still be eligible to complete their free vaccination course. Please submit a manual claim for doses given to these patients.
Likewise international students who turn 18 years of age during this period and who receive their first dose of HPV vaccine by 1 April 2019 will still be eligible to complete their free vaccination course. Please submit a manual claim for these patients.
Patients who turn 15 years of age during this period and have not yet begun HPV vaccination or completed their course will need three doses to be fully protected.
The Global HPV Stand Alone Scientific Symposium, hosted by MSD (Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp), was held in Vienna on the 18 – 20thJuly 2018. Approximately 100 delegates attended from 41 countries. New Zealand was represented by STIEF Professional Advisory Board Member, Dr Julian White (Clinical Director of the Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery at Waikato Hospital) and Dr Ai Ling Tan (Gynaecology Oncologist at Auckland City Hospital and Ascot Hospital). Many thanks to Drs White and Tan for sharing their notes with us. Some key points follow below.
The symposium itself was divided into half-day sessions. The first afternoon was devoted to an update on the scientific data further confirming that the HPV vaccine continues to be a very effective and safe vaccine. There was some emphasis on the desirability of gender-neutral vaccination, for which New Zealand was one of the forerunners in launching.
Vaccination strategies based on catch-up vaccination of females and males are effective for accelerating HPV prevalence reduction. Inclusion of routine male vaccination improves the resilience of vaccination programmes.2
Research indicates that the biggest barrier for adults to have the vaccine was thought by health professionals to be the cost but for patients the biggest barrier was identified as lack of information.
Over the last decade, the impact of HPV vaccination in real-world settings has become increasingly evident, especially among girls vaccinated before HPV exposure in countries with high vaccine uptake. Reported maximal reductions of approximately3:
[1] Arana et al. Post-licensure safety monitoring of quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine in the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), 2009-201.Vaccine, 2018;36:1781-1788
[2] Elfström et al. Human Papillomavirus Vaccination of Boys and Extended Catch-up Vaccination: Effects on the Resilience of Programs. J Infect Dis, 2016;213:199-205
[3] Garland S et al. Impact and Effectiveness of the Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus Vaccine: A Systematic Review of 10 Years of Real-world Experience. Clin Infect Dis, 2016;63(4):519-527
[4] Giuliano A et al. Seroconversion following anal and genital HPV infection in men: The HIM study. Papillomavirus Res; 2015;1:109-115
Te Aitanga a Tiki: Māori dimensions of sexuality - a collection of reo Māori and English language resources that draw on Māori knowledge, such as pūrākau (stories) and mōteatea (traditional chants), to relate Māori understandings of sexual and reproductive health to young Māori in schools, kura and communities.
The Light Project - a website to start the conversation and help equip NZ youth, their whānau and communities to navigate the new porn landscape. The site is based on the resource needs identified in our Porn and Young People – What Do We Know? NZ Youth Stakeholder Survey.
Aotearoa Transgender Health Guideline - hosted by the transgender research group at Waikato University, who are also looking to host a one day - Aotearoa NZ Trans Health Symposium at Waikato University on Saturday 4 May 2019.
Dr Hayley Denison (STIEF Director) is the lead author of new research by Massey University exploring Healthcare-seeking behaviour of people with sexually transmitted infection symptoms attending a Sexual Health Clinic in New Zealand. Listen to Hayley’s Radio NZ interview discussing the results of this research with Jesse Mulligan here.