ge and attitudes of parents/ guardians towards uptake of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine in preventing cervical cancer among girls in Zambia

The study aimed to determine the knowledge and attitudes of parents/guardians towards Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine in preventing cervical cancer among girls in Zambia. This is a desc riptive cross sectional study parents/guardians of school going g irls aged 9 to 13 year who were randomly selected and interviewed. 68.5% of the respondents had ever heard about HPV vaccine and their source of information on the HPV vaccine was the media (35.5%) 74% knew that girls from 9 to 13 years should get the HPV vaccine and that the HPV vaccine prevented the adolescent girls from acquiring HPV infection and developing cervical cancer later in life (66%). The results showed that vacc ine could be obtained from the clinic, 63% of the respondents were aware that the HPV vaccine should be given to girl children aged 9 not yet sexually active and 70.5% said the HPV vaccine could not protect them against sexually t ransmitted infections. Most of the respondents (73%) said HPV vaccine is administered in Zambia , 50% said that HPV vaccinations campaign has been widely publicized in Zambia and another half said that HPV vaccination campaign has not been widely publicized in Zambia and 64% had heard of HPV vaccine being given in Zambia. Data from this study showed that 71% of the respondents said that HPV could not cause infertility and that vaccinating girl children at the age of 9 to 13 might not encourage girl children sexual activity (77.5% ), 62% were aware that the HPV vaccine does cannot be given to people who are already sexually active, 55% were aware know how many doses of HPV vaccine were needed for a girl child to be fully protected and 64% r there were no socio cultural practices that could prevent the parents/ guardians to consent the girl children to receive the HPV vaccine. of the girl children being aware of sexual issues at a tender age however, 54% said at there no cultural barriers that could prevent them from talking to their girl children about sexual issues. The majority of the respondents (94%) had ever heard about cervical cancer and stated that cervical cancer was a serious disease of cervix and 90 .5% said that cervical cancer was the common cancer among women in Zambia , 77.5% said that cervical cancer can be caused by the HPV, knew that it can be cured if treated early (69%) and that cervical cancer can threaten the relationship between husband and partner (72%). Most respondents (84%) agreed that HPV vaccine was helpful in preventing cervical cancer and was necessary for all the girl children of 9 to 13 years to be given HPV vaccine (81.5%) would allow their girl children to b e given the HPV vaccine and were of the opinion that it was important to talk to girl children on sexual issues that would go hand in hand with having them vaccinated for HPV (75%). This study demonstrates the importance of continued health promotion progr campaigns for increasing community awareness about HPV, HPV vaccine and cervical cancer.