Acceptability of human papilloma virus vaccination among women in the United Arab Emirates.

BACKGROUND: Human papilloma virus (HPV) is a common sexually transmitted infectious agent. It is estimated that 10% of all women worldwide are infected with HPV, that is some 660 million each year. HPV vaccination has a reported efficacy of more than 98% for protection against infection in females. In 2008 the Abu Dhabi Health Authority in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) introduced free HPV vaccination for all eligible schoolgirls in both public and private schools. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 640 women aged 18-50 years in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in UAE from April 2012 to October 2012 was conducted. RESULTS: Thirty-seven percent of the women in our sample had heard about HPV vaccination, and 80% of these would consider getting vaccinated themselves, and 87% would recommend vaccination to relatives or friends. Most women in the study (69%) had a favorable opinion about the vaccine. Only 17% of the women felt it might not be culturally acceptable, and 1% felt that there might be religious objections to HPV vaccination. Vaccine safety and recommendation by a doctor (36% each) were the factors identified most frequently by our sample of women which would enhance the uptake of the HPV vaccination. CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge about HPV vaccination among women in our sample was below average (37%); however, 80% of those who had heard about HPV vaccination were willing to be vaccinated themselves, and 87% would recommend vaccination to relatives and friends.

Awareness and knowledge about human papillomavirus infection and vaccination among women in UAE.

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer is the second commonest female cancer worldwide. The 50-55 cases of cervical cancer are reported annually in the UAE. There is a scarcity of data from Middle Eastern region regarding knowledge and attitude of women towards HPV infection, cervical cancer prevention and HPV vaccine. The aim of our study was to assess the knowledge of women regarding HPV infection and vaccine in UAE. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of 640 women aged 18-50 years was conducted in Al-Ain district in UAE using convenience sampling. Women with previous diagnosis of cervical cancer, non- residents of UAE, younger than 18 or older than 50 years of age and those unable to speak Arabic or English were excluded from the study. Logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the association of HPV knowledge with independent factors like age, education etc. RESULTS: Only 29% of our sampled women have ever heard of HPV infection. Only 15.3% women recognized it as STI. Only about 22% women have also heard of the HPV vaccine. Three quarter of the women in our study thought that cervical cancer can be prevented. About 28% recognized vaccine as a preventive measure against cervical cancer. Age (AOR 1.049, 95%CI 1.02-1.08) and husband's level of education were found to be significant (p value 0.015) after adjusting for women's age. CONCLUSIONS: The knowledge of HPV infection and vaccine is low in the UAE. Few women recognized HPV as sexually transmitted infection. Increasing age and husband's education are associated with better knowledge of HPV infection.