Assessing South African Women's Knowledge of the Human Papillomavirus, Cervical Cancer, Perception of risk, and Vaccine knowledge and acceptability

Cervical cancer is a significant public health issue in developing countries. Women in developing countries account for 85% of the yearly cases of cervical cancer (estimated at 493,000 cases worldwide) with approximately 250,000 deaths occurring in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America. In South Africa, cervical cancer is the third leading cause of death and in 2000, over 3,400 South African women died from cervical cancer. Empirical research indicates that South Africa women have their first PAP when they become pregnant and present to an antenatal clinic.

Although cervical cancer can be prevented with regular Pap screening, access to preventive screenings may be nearly non-existent in resource poor settings that have limited public health infrastructure and where women may lack basic health education and often have to travel great distances for medical care. In this environment, annual screenings are not an option for most women. However, the World Health Organizations estimates that even once in a life time screening, performed by women in their 30s or 40s could reduce the risk of cervical cancer by 25-30%.

For this pilot study, 75 adult women attendees at an antenatal clinic in Alexandria, South Africa will be recruited. Using reoccurring themes and multivariate statistics, we will assess the participants' knowledge of cervical cancer, HPV, and the HPV vaccine; assess maternal-child communication about sex education and STDs including HPV, willingness to vaccinate children; and identify barriers to assessing medical care and the HPV vaccine.