Knowledge and acceptability of the HPV vaccine by school children and their parents in Birmingham

Previous research indicates that knowledge about the HPV vaccine amongst the general public is inadequate [1-3]. However, since the introduction of the NHS vaccination programme for girls aged 12-13 from autumn 2008 awareness may have increased. We aimed to assess their knowledge about the vaccine, their likelihood of vaccine uptake and whether these were affected by demographic variables such as gender and ethnicity. Questionnaires which were designed to test levels of knowledge about the vaccination programme were distributed to a sample of 12-13 year-old boys and girls and their parents from three schools in Birmingham. In total, 568 questionnaires were distributed, with 434 responses (76.4%). The results suggest that knowledge is still poor, particularly in subgroups such as males, those of non-white ethnicity and children. Furthermore, we found many misconceptions exist amongst the participants, which could have significant implications for information provision and the targeting of future education programmes.