The main aim is to present the level of awareness of the HPV virus , the acceptance of vaccination and the investigation of the reasons why there is still a percentage that refuses to be vaccinated. Also to present the main sources of information on the HPV and the figure, that played a decisive role on the acceptance of the vaccine.
A questionnaire consisting of 84 questions was filled by 300 young females between the ages of 12-25 years. The young women visited a Pediatric & Adolescent Gynecology clinic of a university hospital. These questionnaires were distributed and filled from January 2012 until January 2016.The questions were aksed in a way to investigate the level of knowledge and awareness concerning the HPV, the related cancers, also about the HPV vaccine and whether these woman wanted to be vaccinated or not.
By this study an improvement to the general acceptance of the vaccination was monitored, since during the first two years the 68,1% of the females asked were skeptical about receiving the vaccination and refused to get vaccinated, whereas during the second two years the percentage reduced to 41,7%. The main reasons of refusal with a percentage of 51,9% was the worry of the side-effects that may arise. What is however really important to mention was that 29,6% declared that nobody had suggested the vaccination or even worse that their family doctor was objecting to the vaccine.
There is an increasing knowledge on the vaccine and HPV virus stimulated by NHS. Still there is plenty of room for improvement, beginning with a more extensive information campaign by health providers.