Children's Clinic announces participation in RAVE

The Children’s Clinic of Klamath is participating in the Rural Adolescent Vaccine Enterprise project. Helping to increase HPV vaccination rates. Image: Brian Gailey / Klamath Falls News.

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. - The Children’s Clinic of Klamath is participating in the Rural Adolescent Vaccine Enterprise (RAVE) project. Over the next 18 months, Children’s Clinic of Klamath along with 44 other clinics in Oregon – including Klamath Health Partnership and Sanford Children’s Clinic (to begin RAVE in June 2020), will lead a community-wide intervention project designed to improve local adolescent immunization rates.

This project aims to improve the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccination rate in rural Oregon communities.

Widely used and recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for over a decade, the HPV vaccine is safe and effective at preventing cancer of the cervix, throat, mouth, and genitals. It is currently recommended for all adolescents (boys and girls), starting as early as age nine. Despite its proven effectiveness, its track record of safety, and its universal coverage by insurance, only 33 percent of adolescents in Oregon completed the series by their 13th birthday last year. The RAVE research team aims to improve upon this rate by supporting local primary care clinics to lead change within their communities.

When asked why Children’s Clinic of Klamath is participating, Dr. Cherry said: “We want to get more people educated about HPV which will hopefully lead to more children getting the vaccine that will prevent them from getting cancer.”

The Rural Adolescent Vaccine Enterprise (RAVE) project launched in July 2018. RAVE, led by Principal Investigators L.J. Fagnan, MD and Patty Carney, PhD, is funded by the American Cancer Society and goes through June 2023.

Press release provided by the Rural Adolescent Vaccine Enterprise project.