March 2015 Vol. 3 No. 3

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Original Research Article

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

Mecktridah M. Milimo¹, Exildah Daka², Lackson Sikuyuba³, James Nyirenda⁴ and Catherine Ngoma^5*

¹Namwala District Hospital, Namwala, Southern Province
²Monze district Hospital, Monze, Southern Province
³Lusaka Schools of Nursing, Midwifery and Theater Nursing, Lusaka
⁴Chipata, General Hospital, Chipata, Eastern Province
⁵School of Medicine, Department of Nursing Sciences, P. O. Box 50110, Lusaka, Zambia

*Corresponding Author’s E-mail: catherinengoma@yahoo.com
Tel: +260966652879/260975233011

Accepted March 02, 2015

Abstract

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 descriptive cross sectional study carried out on 200 parents/guardians of school going girls 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 (40%) said that the HPV vaccine could be obtained from the clinic, 63% of the respondents were aware that the HPV vaccine should be given to girl children aged 9-13 years because they are not yet sexually active and 70.5% said the HPV vaccine could not protect them against sexually transmitted 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 to indulge in early 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% reported that there were no socio cultural practices that could prevent the parents/guardians to consent the girl children to receive the HPV vaccine. 79.5% had no fears of the girl children being aware of sexual issues at a tender age however, 54% said that 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%), 83% agreed that they would allow their girl children to be 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 programmes and awareness
campaigns for increasing community awareness about HPV, HPV vaccine and cervical cancer.

Keywords: Attitudes, Cervical Cancer, Girls, Human Papilloma Virus Vaccine, Knowledge, Parents/ Guardians, Uptake