On July 20, 2026, the HPV Vaccination Roundtable of the Southeast published its first comprehensive list of formal members. The Hispanic Health Coalition of Georgia is named in the Georgia delegation, alongside sixteen other Georgia members drawn from Emory University, the University of Georgia, Augusta University, Winship Cancer Institute, Northside Hospital Cancer Institute, Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, Northeast Georgia Health System, and the Georgia Department of Public Health.
A membership roster is an administrative document. What it records is not administrative at all. It shows which institutions across fourteen states and jurisdictions have committed staff time to preventing six cancers that a vaccine already prevents.
What the Southeast Roundtable is
Start with the problem it exists to solve.
HPV, the human papillomavirus, is a common infection. Most people clear it on their own without ever knowing they had it. Sometimes it does not clear, and years later it can turn into cancer. There is a vaccine that stops most of those cancers before they ever start. The distance between how many cancers that vaccine could prevent and how many still happen is wider in the Southeast than anywhere else in the country.
The Roundtable is this region's answer to that gap. It brings together people and organizations from twelve states and two jurisdictions: Alabama, Arkansas, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
The American Cancer Society and its National HPV Vaccination Roundtable began the work in 2019. Representatives came back together in 2022, this time with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, which now handles day to day coordination through its HPV Cancer Prevention Program.
St. Jude is direct about why this region was chosen. The Southeast has historically had the lowest HPV vaccination coverage as a region, and the highest rates of HPV cancers, especially cervical and oral cancers. Fewer children protected. More adults diagnosed later. We covered that regional gap in detail in an earlier article.
Georgia is not just on the list
Three of the Roundtable's leadership roles belong to people working in Georgia or covering it.
Robert Bednarczyk, PhD, of Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health, chairs the Steering Committee. That is the group that speaks for all fourteen states and jurisdictions. Jessica Davis of the American Cancer Society serves as the Roundtable's Vice Chair, and she leads ACS partnership work across Georgia and six other states. Astrid Wilkie-McKellar of Northside Hospital Cancer Institute is a Tri-Chair of HPV Cancer Free Georgia, which keeps the regional group and the state workgroup talking to each other.
Georgia also sends one of the larger delegations. Its members include oncology nurses, medical students, pediatricians, cancer center directors, community outreach coordinators, an advocate from the cervical cancer network Cervivor, and staff from the state health department.
What the numbers look like here
Georgia carries more HPV cancer than the country as a whole. The figures below count new cases each year for every 100,000 people, which is how researchers compare states of different sizes.
United States: 12.2 for all HPV cancers, 5.3 oropharyngeal, 7.0 cervical.
Georgia: 13.2 for all HPV cancers, 5.9 oropharyngeal, 7.7 cervical.
Georgia sits in the top fifteen states for cervical cancer.
Vaccination is the better half of the story. In 2024, 65 percent of Georgia teenagers aged 13 to 17 had finished the full HPV vaccine series, a little ahead of the national figure of 63 percent. That number has climbed 20 points since 2016.
There is still ground to cover. The national target is 80 percent and Georgia has not reached it. What stands out most is how far HPV trails the other shots teenagers get at the very same age. In 2024, 98 percent of Georgia teens had the meningococcal vaccine and 97 percent had Tdap. Those teenagers were already in the exam room. The visit happened. The HPV shot is the one that did not.
Where this coalition's work shows up
One number in the state profile speaks directly to the families this coalition serves.
Among Georgia teenagers, Hispanic teens have the highest HPV vaccination rates of any racial or ethnic group in the state. Eighty percent have received at least one dose, and 63 percent have finished the series. Black non-Hispanic teens come next at 73 and 54 percent, white non-Hispanic at 68 and 54, and other groups at 67 and 57.
That did not happen on its own. It is what years of bilingual outreach look like once the results finally reach the data. Health fairs. Conversations at kitchen tables. Materials families can actually read, in the language they speak at home. None of it is fast work.
The same profile shows where the work is not finished. Among uninsured teenagers in Georgia, 43 percent have had one dose and only 25 percent have completed the series. That is the widest gap anywhere in the report, and it falls hardest on families with the least room to absorb a cancer diagnosis. Teens in rural counties trail their urban peers as well, 54 percent finished against 64 percent.
Both things are true at once. The outreach is working, and it has not reached everyone yet.
The plan the region built
In September 2025 the Roundtable released the Southeast United States Call to Action. It is the first regional plan in the country aimed at ending HPV cancers as a public health problem, starting with cervical cancer.
It sets three goals to reach by 2030, across all fourteen jurisdictions. Eighty percent of teenagers aged 13 to 17 completing the vaccine series. Eighty percent of people with a cervix up to date on cervical cancer screening. Eighty percent receiving the follow-up care they need after an abnormal screening result.
That third goal matters more than it may sound. A screening that finds something only helps if the person gets seen afterward. That step is exactly where people slip away.
Georgia's own action steps in the 2025 state profile point back to partners this coalition already works beside, including the Georgia Cancer Control Consortium and the HPV Cancer Free Georgia workgroup.
Anyone can join
Membership in the Southeast Roundtable is open to anyone, at no cost, through the Roundtable's membership form. Questions go to PreventHPV@stjude.org.
The full member charter, current as of July 20, 2026, is below.
FAQs
What is the HPV Vaccination Roundtable of the Southeast?
A regional group of people and organizations from twelve states and two jurisdictions working to prevent HPV cancers through on-time vaccination. The American Cancer Society and its National HPV Vaccination Roundtable began the effort in 2019. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital now coordinates it through its HPV Cancer Prevention Program.
Who can join the Southeast Roundtable?
Anyone, at no cost, by completing the Roundtable's membership form. Questions go to PreventHPV@stjude.org. The member charter is updated twice a year.
When should a child get the HPV vaccine?
Routine vaccination is recommended at age 11 or 12 and can start as early as age 9. On-time vaccination by the 13th birthday gives the best protection. The vaccine is recommended for everyone through age 26, and adults aged 27 to 45 can ask a health care provider whether it is right for them.
Partner list
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, HPV Cancer Prevention Program
American Cancer Society
ACS National HPV Vaccination Roundtable
HPV Cancer Free Georgia
Georgia Cancer Control Consortium
Georgia Department of Public Health
Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health
Northside Hospital Cancer Institute
Hispanic Health Coalition of Georgia (HHCGA)
Sources
On July 20, 2026, the HPV Vaccination Roundtable of the Southeast published its first comprehensive member charter. HHCGA is named in the Georgia delegation, in a state that holds three of the regional body's leadership roles.
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