Table 1.

Search syntax according to the listed databases

Database	Adapted search syntax
PubMed (MEDLINE)	((“HPV” OR “HPV16” OR “HPV18” OR “HPV6” OR “HPV 5” OR “HPV18” OR “HPV31” OR “HPV33” OR “HPV45” OR “HPV52” OR “Human papilloma Virus”) AND (“cover*” OR “prevent*” OR “uptake” OR “status” OR “access*” OR “program*” OR “strateg*” OR “guidelin*” OR “polic*”) AND (“vaccin*” OR “immun*” OR “Cervarix” OR “Gardasil” OR “cervix cancer prevention” OR “cervix cancer control”) AND (“barrier*” OR “block*” OR “limit*” OR “improv*” OR “factor*” OR “understand*” OR “analys*” OR “invest*” OR “willing*” OR “knowledge” OR “awareness” OR “accept*” OR “hesitancy” OR “challeng*”) AND (“Sub Saharan Africa” OR “SSA” OR “Angola” OR “Benin” OR “Botswana” OR “Burkina Faso” OR “Burundi” OR “Cameroon” OR “Cape Verde” OR “Central African Republic” OR “Chad” OR “Comoros” OR “Congo” OR “Côte d’Ivoire” OR “Djibouti” OR “Equatorial Guinea” OR “Eritrea” OR “Ethiopia” OR “Gabon” OR “Gambia” OR “Ghana” OR “Guinea” OR “Kenya” OR “Lesotho” OR “Liberia” OR “Madagascar” OR “Malawi” OR “Mali” OR “Mauritania” OR “Mauritius” OR “Mozambique” OR “Namibia” OR “Niger” OR “Nigeria” OR “Réunion” OR “Rwanda” OR “Sao Tome” and “Principe” OR “Senegal” OR “Seychelles” OR “Sierra Leone” OR “Somalia” OR “South Africa” OR “Sudan” OR “Swaziland” OR “Eswatini” OR “Tanzania” OR “Togo” OR “Uganda” OR “Western Sahara” OR “Zambia” OR “Zimbabwe”) NOT (“therapeutic*” OR “treatment*” OR " biomarker*” OR " HIV " OR “cervical cancer screening” OR “respiratory papillomatosis” OR “chlamydia trachomatis” OR “trichomonas vaginalis” OR “vaccine efficiency” OR “immunology” OR “cost-effectiveness” OR “microbiome” OR “surfactant protein” OR “self-sampling”))
Livivo	((HPV OR HPV16 OR HPV18 OR HPV6 OR HPV 5 OR HPV18 OR HPV31 OR HPV33 OR HPV45 OR HPV52 OR Human papilloma virus) AND (cover* OR prevent* OR uptake OR status OR access* OR program* OR strateg* OR guidelin* OR polic*) AND (vaccin* OR immun* OR Cervarix OR Gardasil OR cervix cancer prevention OR cervix cancer control) AND (barrier* OR block* OR limit* OR improv* OR factor* OR understand* OR analys* OR invest* OR willing* OR knowledge OR awareness OR accept* OR hesitancy OR challeng*) AND (Sub Saharan Africa OR SSA OR Angola OR Benin OR Botswana OR Burkina Faso OR Burundi OR Cameroon OR Cape Verde OR Central African Republic OR Chad OR Comoros OR Congo OR Côte d’Ivoire OR Djibouti OR Equatorial Guinea OR Eritrea OR Ethiopia OR Gabon OR Gambia OR Ghana OR Guinea OR Kenya OR Lesotho OR Liberia OR Madagascar OR Malawi OR Mali OR Mauritania OR Mauritius OR Mozambique OR Namibia OR Niger OR Nigeria OR Réunion OR Rwanda OR Sao Tome and Principe OR Senegal OR Seychelles OR Sierra Leone OR Somalia OR South Africa OR Sudan OR Swaziland OR Eswatini OR Tanzania OR Togo OR Uganda OR Western Sahara OR Zambia OR Zimbabwe) NOT (therapeutic* OR treatment* OR biomarker* OR HIV* OR cervical cancer screening OR respiratory papillomatosis OR chlamydia trachomatis OR trichomonas vaginalis OR vaccine efficiency OR immunology OR cost-effectiveness OR microbiome OR surfactant protein OR self-sampling))
Google scholar	allintitle: Africa HPV HPV OR HPV16 OR HPV18 OR HPV OR 6 OR HPV OR 5 OR HPV18 OR HPV OR 31 OR HPV OR 33 OR HPV OR 45 OR HPV52 OR coverage OR prevention OR uptake OR status OR access OR strategy OR guideline OR policy OR vaccine
Science direct	“HPV” AND (“vaccin” OR “cervix cancer prevention” OR “uptake” OR “hesitancy” OR “coverage”) AND (“Sub Saharan Africa”) NOT (“therapeutic” OR " HIV “)
African journals online	HPV AND (Gardasil OR Cevarix OR vaccin) AND (coverage OR uptake OR hesitancy OR acceptance OR barrier OR intervention OR strategy OR knowledge OR prevention OR access OR program OR guideline OR policy)