phd scholar JSS College of pharmacy, Mysuru, India Mysuru, India, India
Background: Cervical cancer cases (99%) are linked to infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (group of over 200 viruses) a prevalent virus transmitted through sexual contact. In 2020, the crude cervical cancer incidence rate was 18.7%. The HPV vaccine has proven its efficacy in reducing the incidents rate of these cancers worldwide. Unfortunately, the utilization rate of the HPV vaccine is very low compared to the other vaccines in the country.
Objectives: To determine the socio-demographic differences and the predictors associated with HPV vaccine refusal and to ascertain the intention- action gap of HPV vaccine refusal among the study population.
Methods: Data were collected through web-based ethnographic methods, as an interventional study conducted from 2020 to 2022. Eligible study participants enrolled after taking informed consent exclusively designed as per the requirements of the Indian Council of Medical Research guidelines for biomedical research on human subjects. The study used Vaccine Hesitancy Open-Ended Survey Questions developed by WHO SAGE WG. A Chi-square test for determining the association of demographic variables with vaccine hesitancy and Bi-variate analysis was performed to calculate the predictors of vaccine hesitancy.
Results: Of the 1153 study population, 53.68% (n=619) hesitated, refused, and were unaware of HPV Vaccination. The knowledge & intention-action gap has been reflected in the utilization of HPV Vaccines. The study site has witnessed deficient coverage of the HPV vaccine (5 doses of HPV vaccine out of 22682 doses of IAP recommended vaccines for routine use). The general public including parents and future parents hesitated/ refused vaccination with the concerns of “Didn’t think it was needed”, “Didn’t know where to get reliable information” and “Didn’t think the vaccine was effective.”
Conclusions: The potential benefit of the HPV vaccine with cross-protection can help eliminate anogenital cancer caused by human papillomavirus. Dialogue & Recall-based interventions can be helpful to the parents, as childhood vaccination in the country will be followed up till 10 years of age. Also, economically affordable HPV vaccine availability will address the low coverage of HPV vaccines.
