| dc.description.abstract | Background: The World Health Organization recommends routine vaccination of girls aged 9 to
13 years to prevent Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infections and related diseases. This is
because girls in this age bracket are thought to be less sexually active and having a better
immune response to the vaccination. Ministry of Health in Uganda made HPV vaccination
available and free of charge for all eligible categories of the population. Despite availability of
the free HPV vaccination in the country, available research evidence shows low HPV
vaccination coverage for the eligible girls with unclear reasons for parental rejection of the
vaccine. This study assessed factors influencing acceptance of HPV vaccination among parents
of children aged 9-13 years in Nakawa division, Kampala Capital City.
Methods: A cross- sectional study using quantitative methods of data collection and analysis
was employed. A sample of 384 mothers of girls aged 9 -13 years from Nakawa divisions
Kampala capital city were interviewed after informed consent.
Results: More than half of the parents, 224 (58.3%) who participated in the study had accepted
the HPV vaccination for their children. The major factors related to acceptance of HPV
vaccination among the parents included: Parental age; parents aged 35 years and below had
higher odds of HPV vaccination acceptance than those above 45 years (AOR=5.911; 95.0% CI:
3.214-10.868; p<0.001), health facilities where parents were recruited from; parents recruited
from Naguru hospital were twice as likely to accept HPV vaccine for their children compared to
parents from Kiswa HC III (AOR=2.098, 95.0% CI: 1.238- 3.555, p=0.006). Parents affiliated to
Catholic (AOR=0.026, 95.0% CI: 0.004-0.191, p<0.001) and Protestant (AOR=0.011, 95.0% CI:
0.001- 0.084, p<0.001) faiths were significantly less likely to accept HPV vaccine compared to
parents who were Pentecostal. Parents who believed that the HPV vaccine was safe were 6 times
more likely to accept HPV vaccination than parents who did not believe that the vaccine was safe
for their children (AOR= 6.11, 95.0% CI: 1.783-21.000, p=0.004).
Conclusions: There was low level of HPV vaccine acceptance among parents with just over half
of the parents who participated in the study accepting HPV vaccination. Personal factors of age,
religious affiliations, reading or hearing information about importance of HPV vaccine, and
believing that knowledge about HPV vaccine was helpful coupled with institutional factors such
as health facilities and safety of the HPV vaccine were the major factors influencing acceptance
of HPV vaccination among the parents.
Recommendations: Therefore, it was recommended that the Ministry of Health should consider
integrating HPV vaccination in the current immunization cards as this would serve as a vital
reminder for parents to bring back their daughters for HPV vaccination at age 9 years and for
health workers for emphasis during routine immunization. | en_US |
