Women 4 Cancer in collaboration with Busara Center for Behavioural Economics and Burness Communications conducted a study aimed at providing an evidence-based, cost-effective and locally targeted, social and behavioural change communications approach to encourage uptake of the HPV vaccination in Kenya. This project was made possible by the financial and technical support of the American Cancer Society’s Global HPV Cancer Free initiative that aims to create a world free of cervical cancer.
This study explored attributes of motivation, ability and opportunity among parents/guardians of young girls to get them the HPV vaccine, from the perspective of the parents/guardians themselves, health care workers and teachers. The study found a perceived lack of information among parents about where to receive the HPV vaccine, required dosage, importance, efficacy and safety. This lack of information coupled with the negative rumors around the vaccine were the major barriers toward its uptake. The study also found a number of enabling factors such as trust in sources of information and high levels of fear of cancer that could improve parents’ intention to vaccinate their daughters.
Solutions
These findings point towards the need for continuous sensitization around the vaccine. Further, levers such as parents’ trust in government and healthcare workers could be leveraged through endorsements of the vaccine as a “cancer prevention” tool to improve uptake.
Objectives
- Create a trusted source of science-based HPV vaccination and cancer information and expertise
- Develop contextually-appropriate SBCC interventions among parents and healthcare workers
- Dissemination and scale up of the SBCC interventions
- Contribute towards the WHO global strategy towards cervical cancer elimination where 90% of girls are fully vaccinated with the HPV vaccine by the age of 15.