UMMS Affiliation
Department of Medicine
Publication Date
2015-08-12
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Community Health and Preventive Medicine | International Public Health | Public Health Education and Promotion | Women's Health
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Vaccines against human papillomavirus (HPV) infection have the potential to reduce the burden of cervical cancer. School-based delivery of HPV vaccines is cost-effective and successful uptake depends on school teachers' knowledge and acceptability of the vaccine. The aim of this study is to assess primary school teachers' knowledge and acceptability of HPV vaccine and to explore facilitators and barriers of an ongoing Gavi Alliance-supported vaccination program in Kitui County, Kenya.
METHODS: This was a cross-sectional, mixed methods study in Central Division of Kitui County where the Ministry of Health is offering the quadrivalent HPV vaccine to grade four girls. Data on primary school teachers' awareness, knowledge and acceptability of HPV vaccine as well as facilitators and barriers to the project was collected through self-administered questionnaires and two focus group discussions.
RESULTS: 339 teachers (60% female) completed the survey (62% response rate) and 13 participated in 2 focus group discussions. Vaccine awareness among teachers was high (90%), the level of knowledge about HPV and cervical cancer among teachers was moderate (48%, SD = 10.9) and females scored higher than males (50% vs. 46%, p = 0.002). Most teachers (89%) would recommend the vaccine to their daughter or close relatives. Those who would recommend the vaccine had more knowledge than those who would not (p = < 0.001). The main barriers were insufficient information about the vaccine, poor accessibility of schools, absenteeism of girls on vaccine days, and fear of side effects.
CONCLUSIONS: Despite low to moderate levels of knowledge about HPV vaccine among school teachers, vaccine acceptability is high. Teachers with little knowledge on HPV vaccine are less likely to accept the vaccine than those who know more; this may affect uptake if not addressed. Empowering teachers to be vaccine champions in their community may be a feasible way of disseminating information about HPV vaccine and cervical cancer.
Rights and Permissions
Copyright: 2015 Masika et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
DOI of Published Version
10.1371/journal.pone.0135563
Source
PLoS One. 2015 Aug 12;10(8):e0135563. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0135563. eCollection 2015. Link to article on publisher's site
Journal/Book/Conference Title
PloS one
Related Resources
PubMed ID
26266949
Repository Citation
Masika, Moses Muia; Ogembo, Javier Gordon; Chabeda, Sophie Vusha; Wamai, Richard G.; and Mugo, Nelly, "Knowledge on HPV Vaccine and Cervical Cancer Facilitates Vaccine Acceptability among School Teachers in Kitui County, Kenya" (2015). Open Access Articles. 2640.
https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/oapubs/2640
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Included in
Community Health and Preventive Medicine Commons, International Public Health Commons, Public Health Education and Promotion Commons, Women's Health Commons