HPV awareness high but only one-third of women get vaccination
Despite as high as a 95 percent awareness rate of the HPV vaccine and cervical cancer, only one third of women get vaccinated, according to a nationwide study casting a light on female health.
Female urban residents aged between 20 and 29 have the highest vaccination rate of 45 percent, and social media is the most effective channel to educate about the disease and relevant vaccines, according to the joint study by MSD China and local news portal Paper.cn.
As a part of the "A Healthier Life for Our World" initiative that kicked off on International Women's Day this year, the survey was conducted in March and covered 2,009 respondents nationwide, with 70 percent of them female.
Sixty-two percent among the 1,483 female respondents failed to take positive action due to hesitation or barriers.
Only half of those who said they were willing to receive the vaccination actually got the shot.
The biggest factor in taking action was getting the vaccination together with a close companion, and over 55 percent of women had done so, much higher than the influence of social media or medical advice from doctors.
Professor Xu Jing at the Institute for Global Health and Development of Peking University said that the survey results reflected the true awareness situation and the gap between knowing about vaccinations and taking action.
China accounts for 18.2 percent of global cervical cancer cases and 17.3 percent of global cancer deaths due to its large population, official figures show.
The first HPV cancer vaccine was approved in China seven years ago, and a total of around 21.59 million doses of vaccines were administered to women aged 9-45 years between 2018 and 2020, with an estimated vaccination rate of 2.24 percent.
"Females encouraging their friends and family members to get vaccinated is already a health promotion action in itself," said Qiao Youlin, professor at the School of Population Medicine and Public Health under the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.
"We have witnessed many adult women around the country trying every possible means to get vaccinated as soon as possible, and health awareness is actually becoming a trend," he added.
