Knowledge and Acceptability of HPV Vaccine among Mothers in a Rural Area in Eastern Nigeria

Nzeribe EA, Onumajuru C, Idih E and Njike C

Published on: 2019-11-21

Abstract

Problem statement: The place of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infection in the causation of cervical cancer is no longer in debate. The World Health Organization has recommended the use of HPV vaccine as a means of primary prevention of cervical cancer in vaccine naive adolescent girls. This study was to find baseline knowledge and acceptability of HPV vaccine by rural women in  Imo state Nigeria.

Methodology: This was a cross sectional descriptive study of consenting rural women attending a free medical outreach program and analysis was with the IBM SPSS version 20.0 for descriptive statistics.

Results: One hundred and forty-one women aged 35 to 55 years responded to the questionnaire. Eighty percent and 95% respectively have never heard of cervical cancer or the HPV virus, and only 2% knew that vaccination prevented cervical cancer. Even though close to 90% of the women will like to vaccinate their girl child, unfortunately over 80% of the women earned less than N10,000 ($27.7) monthly. Only 2.8% of the women showed willingness to pay for the vaccine. Educational status of the women was of statistical significance in the knowledge (p= 0.012) and acceptability of HPV vaccine (p=0.001) in the prevention of cervical cancer.

Discussion: These demographics imply high risk for cervical cancer in the community. Despite the low knowledge on the subject matter, women were willing to have their children vaccinated. The mix of knowledge, acceptability and financial resources are of utmost importance if we are going to have a robust cervical cancer prevention program.

Conclusion: This study showed that despite the low knowledge and awareness on HPV, cervical cancer and HPV vaccines, the women showed willingness to have their daughters vaccinated. There is a need to improve the awareness, availability and affordability of the HPV vaccine.