Abstract

Background: Globally, cervical cancer is one of the profound threats to women’s lives and the fourth most common cancer among women. Ethiopia launched the HPV vaccine provision for the first time by the Ministry of Health, with the support of the Global Alliance for Vaccine and Immunization (GAVI) in 2018. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the acceptability of human papillomavirus vaccine and associated factors among parents of a daughters in Gondar town, Northwest Ethiopia.

Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Gondar town from April to May 2019. The study participants were selected using a multistage sampling technique from all parents having a daughter of 9 -17 years age. Data were collected by using pretested semi-structured questionnaires. The data were entered into Epi-Data version 4.2 and exported to STATA version 14 for analysis. Variables having a p-value of <0.2 and <0.05 in the bivariable and multivariable logistic regression respectively were considered as a statistically significant factor for the acceptance of HPV vaccination.

Results: A total of 899 study participants with a response rate of 95% were included in the study. Among participants in this study, 81.3 % with 95% CI (78.6, 83.7) were accepted to vaccinate their daughters for HPV vaccination. The acceptance of the vaccination was affected by being from the richest household [AOR= 3.44, 95% CI = (1.97, 6.01)], having good knowledge about cervical cancer[AOR=5.49, 95% CI= (2.62, 11.52)], and having positive attitude about the HPV vaccination[AOR=21.53, 95% CI= (11.60, 39.96)].

Conclusion: The study has shown that the acceptance to human papillomavirus vaccination is found to be high and acceptance was significantly associated with the level of knowledge of cervical cancer, the attitude towards the vaccination and the wealth status of the households. Therefore, it is necessary to educate the community members about cervical cancer and its prevention to increase awareness and acceptance as well.

Key words: Cervical Cancer, HPV, Acceptance, Gondar Town, Daughters