Knowledge and uptake of Human Papilloma Virus vaccine for prevention of cervical cancer among secondary school females in Ogbomoso, South West Nigeria

Abstract

Cervical Cancer is a major public health problem globally, with majority of cases occurring in the developing world especially sub-Saharan Africa. This region is also affected by the burden of ignorance, poverty and poor access to basic education which has further worsened the fate of those affected by cervical cancer. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study carried out among senior secondary school females in Ogbomoso, South west Nigeria.  Information was obtained using pretested questionnaires. One hundred and twelve (36.5%) of the three hundred and seven respondents have heard about cervical cancer, sixty three (20.5%) have heard about cervical cancer vaccine while twenty (6.5%) of the respondents have received human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine for prevention of cervical cancer prior to the conduct of the study. Awareness of cancer of the cervix, HPV infections and HPV vaccine is low among female secondary school students in Ogbomoso. Hence, improvement in knowledge and uptake of HPV vaccination of our young girls will go a long way in prevention of cervical cancer.

Keywords: Cervical cancer, Human papilloma virus, Vaccine