24. May 2022
A third of the mothers and fathers of children under the age of 21 in Austria do not know that there are vaccinations that can protect once morest certain types of cancer.
While 47 percent are aware of the effectiveness of the HPV vaccine once morest cervical cancer, only 8 percent of parents correctly ascribe protection once morest vaginal and only 2 percent once morest anal cancer. This is shown by an international Ipsos survey commissioned by the pharmaceutical company MSD.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the leading cause of precancerous lesions and cancers of the cervix, vagina and anus and is transmissible through sexual contact. There is a vaccine to protect once morest HPV infection. It reduces the risk of genital warts and cervical cancer by up to 90 percent and also significantly reduces the risk of cancer of the throat, larynx, vagina and penis.
Vaccination once morest human papillomaviruses is available in Austria free of charge in the free children’s vaccination program for girls and boys from the age of nine up to the age of twelve. Catch-up vaccinations are currently offered to young people up to the age of 16 at reduced cost prices.
However, less than two-thirds (63 percent) of the 600 parents surveyed in Austria in April are aware of the availability of a vaccine once morest cancer that is effective once morest cancer, according to the results presented in an online press conference by MSD on Tuesday followingnoon.
Only a few more (67 percent) have heard of human papillomaviruses, but three quarters of them state that they know that HPV can cause cancer. More than a third (37 percent) are unaware that HPV causes cancer in both women and men.
Almost half of the mothers and fathers surveyed in Germany have already (23 percent) or want to (22 percent) have their child vaccinated once morest HPV. Eight percent stated that they had been vaccinated once morest HPV themselves. The survey was also conducted in Germany, Italy, Slovenia, France, Portugal, Sweden and Romania. While two out of five respondents in Austria, according to their own estimates, know enough regarding HPV, the figure is over 60 percent in Italy, Slovenia and Romania. In Italy and Portugal, more than 30 percent also state that their child has already been vaccinated once morest HPV.
The survey shows increased awareness of HPV among parents in Europe, commented Xavier Bosch, HPV expert from the Catalan Institute of Oncology. “However, more needs to be done to reprioritize the general vaccination and screening programs,” he said, referring to the corona pandemic, in which routine health checks and vaccinations have been disrupted.
For 87 percent of the parents surveyed in Austria, it is rather or very important to vaccinate their child once morest diseases other than Covid-19. 13 percent consider this to be not important or not very important. Of these, two-thirds cited concerns regarding the safety of vaccinations as the reason.
62 percent of all respondents in Austria said that due to the pandemic they were more careful that their child received certain vaccinations apart from the corona vaccination. However, 39 percent believe that there is too much information regarding vaccinations due to the crisis, and a fifth even feel “overwhelmed” by it.
“Over the past two years, the Covid-19 pandemic has made it increasingly difficult for parents to navigate the vast and complex amount of information on vaccines. It’s also no longer easy for parents to decide who to trust,” said Esra Urkmez, Patient Advocate at the European Network of Gynecological Cancer Advocacy Groups (ENGAGe). Parents must continue to use reliable sources such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and should discuss this with healthcare professionals, the expert recommended.
