Published Paper Details:

HPV is responsible for causing around 90% of anal and cervical cancer, approximately 70% of vaginal and vulval cancer, and over 60% of penile cancer. [1] HPV type 16 and 18 are responsible for about 50% of high grade cervical pre-cancers.[3] In India, cancer of cervix is a significant public health problem, but there are effective and safe vaccines available for HPV-naive women.[4] But the vaccines have not achieved widespread acceptance. Healthcare practitioners since time immemorial, have a pivotal role to spread awareness among the masses regarding health, diseases and vaccinations [6]. The community of patients, and the layman as well, trusts and have faith in the advice, suggestions, and recommendations of the healthcare practitioner. So, in order to improve HPV vaccine coverage in India, it is fundamental that the healthcare practitioners should address, recommend and encourage the parents of all adolescent girls to get their daughters vaccinated against cervical cancer. This is a mixed-method study conducted to assess healthcare practitioners' attitudes and perceptions towards advocating HPV vaccination to parents of adolescent girls and to understand the barriers perceived by them against the uptake of HPV vaccination. The study found that all healthcare practitioners were knowledgeable about HPV vaccination and its contraindications, with the majority advocating the vaccine to adolescent girls or their parents. Most practitioners suggested administering the vaccine at age 9 years or above, with some advocating it at 11 years or above. About 81% of adolescent girls or their parents showed interest in getting vaccinated, but high costs and lack of awareness about the vaccine for HPV were the main barriers to its uptake among adolescent girls.