HPV Vaccine - Is The Right Information Reaching The Right People?

Main Category: Cervical Cancer / HPV Vaccine
Article Date: 19 Sep 2008 - 9:00 PDT

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New research released at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) 7th International Scientific Meeting in Montreal, has investigated awareness of the HPV vaccination programme amongst women including availability, effectiveness and whether they would recommend it to others.

HPV is responsible for 70% of all cervical cancers. In the UK there are around 2800 new cases of cervical cancer each year and 1000 deaths.

The research, from King's College Hospital London, included 100 women attending the colposcopy clinic between December 2007 and January 2008. The women were aged between 23 and 70, with a mean age of 38.4. There were 64 patients who had low grade cervical cell changes and 36 patients who showed severe cervical cell changes.

Of the women, only 54% were aware of the NHS vaccination programme and only 47% were aware of the age that the vaccine is given. In all cases the only source of information was the news media.

There was very little knowledge of the effectiveness of the vaccine with 98% of the patients responding that they did not know, however 90% stated that they would recommend it to close family or friends. The main reasons for rejecting the vaccine were lack of information and moral issues.

The researchers conclude it is paramount importance to raise public awareness of the link between HPV and cervical cancer, and any public information must both address the scientific and medical issues along with the moral and ethical.

Dr Nisrin Marcus, Colposcopy Specialist at Kings College Hospital, said "I was very surprised to find that so few women with cervical disease were aware of the vaccine and that their sole source of information was the media.

"The challenge for us now is to ensure that women get appropriate information from medical professionals in order to implement a successful vaccination programme"

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists 7th International Scientific Meeting is taking place in Montreal from Wednesday 17th until Saturday 20th of September. The meeting is being held in conjunction with the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

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