Education and Promotion of Vaccination Against Sexually Transmitted Infections: Closing the Prevention Gap

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) remain a major global public health challenge, with the WHO estimating more than one million new curable infections acquired every day and a substantial burden of viral STIs that can lead to cancer, infertility, and chronic disease. Vaccines are among the most powerful tools available for prevention, with established immunizations against human papillomavirus (HPV) and hepatitis B already averting hundreds of thousands of deaths each year, and promising candidates in development for herpes simplex virus, gonorrhoea, chlamydia, and HIV. Yet vaccine uptake for STIs lags behind other immunization programs, hindered by stigma, misinformation, gendered assumptions, inequitable access, gaps in provider communication, and politicized debates around adolescent sexual health. Education and health promotion are central to closing this gap, shaping how young people, parents, clinicians, and communities understand risk, consent, and the role of vaccination in lifelong sexual and reproductive health. This Research Topic invites work that strengthens the evidence base for educational and promotional strategies that accelerate equitable uptake of STI vaccines.Decades of research on HPV vaccination have shown that knowledge alone rarely shifts behavior; effective uptake depends on trust, social norms, structural access, and the quality of provider recommendations. Building on these lessons, this Research Topic aims to bring together evidence on how to design, deliver, and evaluate education and promotion interventions for STI vaccination across diverse populations and settings. We are particularly interested in work that engages adolescents and young adults, parents and caregivers, schools, healthcare providers, and community and faith leaders. We welcome contributions that address persistent inequities - by gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, disability, geography, and income - and that anticipate the rollout of next-generation STI vaccines. The collection seeks to inform practical guidance for public health authorities, school-based programs, primary care, and community organizations, and to support a forward-looking prevention agenda in which STI vaccination is normalized as a routine component of adolescent and adult preventive care.We welcome original research, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, intervention evaluations, qualitative studies, methods papers, policy analyses, and perspective pieces. Submissions should align with the education and health promotion remit of the section. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:School-, community-, and clinic-based educational interventions to promote HPV, hepatitis B, and emerging STI vaccinesStrategies to address vaccine hesitancy, misinformation, and stigma related to sexual healthProvider training and communication interventions to strengthen vaccine recommendationsParent- and caregiver-focused programs supporting adolescent vaccination decisionsEquity-focused studies engaging LGBTQ+ youth, racial and ethnic minorities, and underserved or rural populationsDigital health, social media, and peer-led campaigns promoting STI vaccine literacy and uptakeIntegration of STI vaccination education into comprehensive sexuality education curriculaHealth systems and policy analyses of school mandates, catch-up programs, and gender-neutral vaccinationLessons from low- and middle-income country contexts on scaling STI vaccine educationPreparedness and public engagement strategies for future STI vaccines (e.g., gonorrhoea, HSV, HIV) Topic editors: Alison Footman, Stacey B. Griner, Griffins Manguro Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/80868/education-and-promotion-of-vaccination-against-sexually-transmitted-infections-closing-the-prevention-gap