The first trial of an AI (Artificial Intelligence)-powered chatbot designed to inform parents about the HPV vaccine has shown that it increases vaccine uptake and engagement with health professionals. Cervical cancer, caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), is one of the most preventable cancers, yet it still claims over 340,000 lives annually. China accounts for 22.8% of global cases, with vaccine coverage remaining low.

The 24/7 chatbot was designed to deliver trusted, personalised vaccine information to parents in a user-friendly way, through simulating human conversations and responding to parent’s frequently asked questions about HPV, the safety of the vaccine, eligibility, side effects, costs and where they could access services. The school-based randomised controlled trial followed a total of 2,671 parents of girls aged 12 to 15 for two weeks, after being randomly assigned to receive either usual care (standard health promotion of the HPV vaccine) or the chatbot intervention.

The parents of children across 180 classes were enrolled, spanning megacity, urban and rural settings in Shanghai and Anhui Province, China. The study was conducted under the Moonrise Initiative, a pioneering effort leveraging artificial intelligence to advance women’s health and health equity. The initiative is co-led by the InnoHK Laboratory of Data Discovery for Health (D²4H) and the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong, alongside the Vaccine Confidence Projec at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, in partnership with Fudan University in Shanghai, China.

This international consortium brings together leading experts in digital health, behavioral science, and epidemiology to tackle urgent global challenges at the intersection of technology, trust, and women’s well-being.

Source: http://lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/news/2025/new-ai-chatbot-parents-improves-hpv-vaccine-uptake