Making the most out of international meetings - the importance of team work in trying to build a legacy

HPV and the tantalising prospect of cervical cancer elimination

The prospect of global cervical cancer elimination, defined as a rate of below 4 cases per 100,000 women is real, yet while this is incredibly exciting, there remains unevenness with respect to when and where we can expect it. The rate of cervical cancer varies hugely between (and often within) countries and it's much more common in resource limited settings. Even in high income countries such as Scotland (my home); we know that women living in the most deprived settings are four times more likely to die from cervical cancer compared with those who live in the most affluent ones.

The opportunity..

I have worked in the HPV area for 25 years, principally as a clinical scientist within an NHS laboratory setting. Two and a half decades is a long time to work with anything,.. but truthfully, HPV remains perennially interesting to me, perhaps because it interfaces with multiple and diverse disciplines; basic-in vitro research, cancer screening, vaccinology, sexual health, health education, implementation science, oncology, colposcopy/anoscopy and of course…laboratory medicine.  The clinical implications of HPV infection also go beyond the cervix and many of the non-cervical cancers with an HPV aetiology are rising (e.g. the oropharynx). In other words, we haven’t solved the “HPV problem” yet. There are still huge gaps in our basic knowledge of this virus and so basic research, enhanced public health interventions and development of clinical services are still very much needed. There remains a thriving HPV research community, internationally and, naturally, scientific meetings are a way to communicate both new findings & share best practice. Having been to several HPV meetings over the years I was honoured (although daunted) to be invited to be one of the local co-chairs of the International Papillomavirus Conference in 2024 (IPVC 2024) in Edinburgh, together with Dr Sharon Hanley (University of Aberdeen) and Prof Sheila Graham (University of Glasgow) – international experts in their respective fields of public health and basic-virology. The IPVC is the official meeting of the International Papillomavirus Society - and there is a society-commitment to ensure the opportunities it provides (1) can raise awareness of HPV in the local communities of the host city/location and (2) can create a programme of “legacy” activities. To this end, a legacy committee was set up one where Sharon, Sheila and I benefitted from the expertise, professionalism and generosity of Prof Eva Malone of Edinburgh Napier University and Ms Gayle McGuinn of the Edinburgh International Conference Centre - which was the conference venue. We also benefited from the support and experience of Ms Chris Amsinger, International HPV Awareness Campaign Officer IPVS and  Ms Anita Wiseman IPVS Campaign manager.

Importantly, the delivery of legacy activities was supported by a “5000 USD Best Cities Seed Fund Grant” awarded by the “Incredible Impacts Programme” of the International Congress and Convention Association. Gayle was fundamental in identifying this opportunity and driving us to secure the award which really helped us gather the materials and people we needed.

Legacy Activities associated with the International Papillomavirus Conference, Edinburgh 2024

Legacy Activity – school workshop

One of the local legacy activities (that may be of particular interest to the BAC given its microscopy component) involved the creation of a school-based workshop on HPV and HPV vaccination. These workshops were designed to be given shortly before secondary school pupils were offered their routine vaccination.  Components included:-

• An interactive quiz on HPV and HPV vaccination

• A hands-on activity designed to show the principles of herd immunity using pom poms and watering cans (the latter having been upgraded to sweetie jars of late)

• A myth-busting activity

• Microscopy of cervical cytology preparations/slides kindly provided by the Scottish Cytology Training school (with many thanks to Sue Mehew for this)

• A presentation from a school nurse, (thank you Alison Gillies!), actively involved in routine immunisation which included specifics of what an individual could expect during the invitation and vaccination process

• A video of Laura Brennan who was diagnosed, tragically with terminal cervical cancer aged 25, but who used her remaining time to raise awareness of cervical cancer and the benefits of HPV vaccination before she passed aged 26. To read more about this outstanding young woman’s courage see  Standard - Laura Brennan - Laura’s Legacy: Inspiring Young Women to Get the HPV Vaccine - European Cancer Organisation

Workshops occurred in schools in the Edinburgh area, with a focus on those schools where vaccine uptake was low. Dr Cathy Southworth and Dr Dom Cairns Gibson - BioQuarter Education and Community Managers at the University of Edinburgh were essential in helping us engage with schools and in the presentation/curation of the workshop given their significant experience in local community work particularly in the area of promoting science. After the initial workshop in April 2024 – we were sufficiently buoyed by the feedback and experience to enhance and sustain it. We created a working set of workshop materials and the Bioquarter team promoted an opportunity for “Science supporters” based at the University with an interest in outreach work to get involved and help deliver it. With the help of the science supporters the workshop was delivered to over 1000 pupils in year 1 and 2 of secondary school last year and the plan is to deliver it to a further 600 year 1 pupils in 2026.

Recent feedback from the workshops is as follows:-

• Before the workshop, the average student rated their knowledge of HPV 2.24 out of 10. After the workshop, this rose to 7.16 out of 10.
• Almost half of the respondents have said that they are now planning to get the vaccination, and a further third have said that they will “maybe get the vaccination”.
• Over 50% of pupils have said that they now feel more confident in getting the vaccination and only 5% have said that they do not feel more confident.
• Many of the pupils commented on the microscope activity and said that they enjoyed learning about cells.

Future Plans

The hope is to continue to evolve the workshop and create an updated “pack”, with the aspiration to disseminate it more broadly in Scotland. Of course – we need to measure whether the workshop makes an impact in terms of the actions of individuals (such as vaccine uptake) - at the moment we are gauging ”intention to vaccinate” which is definitely encouraging, however we are keen to ascertain other measures of success.

Perspectives

Although I was initially (very) daunted, it has been a privilege to be a very small part of this work which continues to grow. Community engagement in schools was very much outside my personal comfort zone but thanks to such multi-disciplinary expertise, efforts and enthusiasm, I learned a huge amount, and it has given me further perspective(s) on the importance and potential of this type of work in general terms. On a personal level - my advice is that if you get a similar opportunity; go for it!

Dom Cairns Gibson – BioQuarter Education and Community Manager at the University of Edinburgh delivering the workshop adjacent to “herd immunity” poms poms.

Microscope and slide set up in a school classroom to support the microscopy element of the workshop. Slides provided and curated by the Scottish Cytology Training School.

One of the images of koilocytosis looked at by the students.

Blog Compiled by K Cuschieri, with thanks to Dom Cairns Gibson, Sharon Hanley, Sheila Graham, Sue Mehew, Alison Gillies, Gayle McGuinn and Eva Malone.

Further reading

About the campaign | International HPV Awareness DayHPV Campaign

Cervical Cancer Elimination in Scotland Expert Group Final Report - gov.scot

News stories

EICC wins Best Business Event at Scottish Thistle Awards - ETAG | Edinburgh Tourism Action Group

BBC Scotland Broadcast about HPV lessons in Schools June 18th 2025 13 42 12