Objective: The recently licensed vaccine for preventing cervical cancer offers a fresh opportunity for cancer control; vaccination coverage is a major determinant in its effectiveness. This article presents perceived knowledge and acceptability by parents of adolescents in Colombia regarding the HPV vaccine.
Methods: A qualitative study was carried out in four areas of Colombia. 16 focus groups were conducted with parents selected from a sample of private and official schools; 4 focus groups were run in each region according to gender. All groups were tape-recorded for further transcription and analysis. Content was analyzed via the following steps: reading, coding, structural analysis and critical appraisal.
Results: 85 % of parents so contacted participated. Parents from state schools were willing for their children to be vaccinated and make an effort to pay the high cost of such vaccine. Resistance is produced by vaccinating at age 12 to prevent sexually-transmitted infection. Private school parents were more critical and expressed lower acceptability. In two areas parents considered that vaccination involved the risk of promoting promiscuity.
Conclusions: Parents' acceptability of vaccination varied according to socio-cultural and educational context. Promoting vaccination for preventing a sexually-transmitted infection amongst the parents of very young girls (<12 years) can hamper their acceptability of it; it is thus recommended that it be promoted for preventing cervical cancer and that it should be aimed at a wider age-range for vaccination.