HPV vaccination in the WHO South-East Asia Region: A scoping review of uptake, implementation challenges, and pathways to acceleration

Cervical cancer remains a major public health concern in the WHO South-East Asia Region (SEAR), where human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination coverage remains uneven. This scoping review synthesizes evidence on HPV vaccine uptake and implementation strategies and challenges across SEAR countries. Following the Arksey and O'Malley framework and PRISMA-Scoping Review (ScR) guidelines, 46 studies published between January 2003 and February 2026 were analyzed. Ten of eleven SEAR countries have introduced HPV vaccination nationally, with Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and Thailand achieving coverage above 90%, while several countries remain in early implementation or expansion phases. Four cross-cutting barriers were identified: policy and financial constraints, sociocultural resistance, weak health-system capacity, and vaccine hesitancy. Based on these findings, SEAR-HPV Integrated Implementation Model (SHIM) is proposed to strengthen policy support, sustainable financing, community engagement, workforce preparedness, and digital monitoring. This review highlights evidence-informed strategies to accelerate HPV vaccine scale-up and advance cervical cancer elimination goals in the region.