Abstract:

Background: All vaccine quadrivalent, bivalent and nonvalent protect against common different genotypes of human papilloma virus (HPV) and the studies have shown that they are effective as prophylactic. In Tanzania HPV vaccines has been recently introduced to young aged girls 9 to 14 years. However, there is limited data about the knowledge and attitude of parents toward HPV vaccine to their school aged girls.

Objective of the study: The aim of the study was to assess knowledge and attitude of parents towards HPV vaccine to the primary school aged in Nyamagana, Mwanza.

Methodology: Community based cross sectional study was conducted at Nyamagana district in Mwanza involving a total of 350 both female and male patents from May to June 2019. Data was collected by using pre-tested data collection tool. Analysis was done by STATA version 13 as per study objectives.

Results: The median age of the parents involved was 350(IQR: 29-44) years. More than one third 126 (36%) of participants were from Pamba ward. Positive attitude on HPV vaccine among parents from Nyamagana districts were above 83% and positive attitudes and acceptance rate were above 58.57%.

Conclusion and recommendations: Results from this study showed that parents with school aged girls living in Nyamagana district have good knowledge concerning HPV vaccine, and their attitudes were broadly positive. Further studies should be done to asses factors associated with low vaccine uptake among children in Nyamagana district and across the country.