Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Carnegie-Backed Study Explores Adolescent Girls' Knowledge of HPV and Sexuality in Western Uganda
Globally, about 500,000 new cases of cervical cancer and about 274,000 deaths due to the disease occur annually. More than 80% of these deaths occur in developing countries, where cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among adult women. This is projected to increase to 90% by 2020 [1]. The human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes most of the cervical cancer is primarily sexually transmitted [2]. Two prophylactic HPV vaccines, Cervarix (bivalent) and Gardasil (quadrivalent), have been proven to be 90% effective in safely preventing HPV 16 and 18 infections, which together account for about 70% of cases worldwide [3]. The HPV vaccine mainly targets young adolescent girls and is most effective if given to HPV-free girls. Globally, studies indicate an overall positive attitude toward vaccination of young adolescents against the HPV [2–7]....