AWARENESS AND ACCEPTANCE AMONG MALAYSIAN WOMEN ON VACCINATION AGAINST CERVICAL CANCER.

Abstract

Human papilloma virus is main cause of cervical cancer. In Malaysia cervical cancer is the third main killer of women after malignancies of the breast and colon. The national vaccination programme against HPV infection was introduced in 2009. For this programme to be successful, awareness among the general population is very important. This study was undertaken to study the level of awareness and acceptance among Malaysian women with different socio-demographic and educational back ground. The findings showed awareness level of 83 percent and acceptance level of only 40.5 percent. The main cause for this disparity is the cost of the available vaccines. This is substantiated by high vaccination level among secondary school students who are vaccinated for free.