Cervical Cancer Jab 'Lower Among Ethnic Groups'

Strong cultural beliefs and low levels of awareness may curb the uptake of the cervical cancer (HPV) vaccine among certain ethnic groups in the UK, reveals research published ahead of print in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Their findings prompt the authors to call for a more tailored and comprehensive approach to the information provided, amid fears that young women from these ethnic backgrounds might miss out on potentially life-saving treatment.

The authors base their findings on interviews with a representative sample of 750 women of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Caribbean, African and Chinese ethnic backgrounds and 200 white British women.

In all, 601 of the women had daughters, 440 of whom had one under 16 years of age—the HPV vaccine is offered to girls aged 12 to 13.

Irrespective of whether they had daughters, all the women were quizzed about their preparedness to allow a child to have the jab, and their reasons for accepting or declining the invitation to vaccination.

They were also asked about whether they had ever heard of the (HPV) human papillomavirus before the interview.

Analysis of the responses showed that only between 6% and 18% of the ethnic minority women had ever heard of HPV, compared with almost four out of 10 (39%) of the white British women.

This was not explained by whether the women and their parents had been born in the UK or overseas, or whether they were recent immigrants, nor whether English was spoken at home, suggesting that ethnicity is more important than acculturation, say the authors.

In a smaller sample of 601 mothers, ethnicity and religion were strongly associated with the acceptability of the jab.

Almost two thirds of white mothers (63%) said they would agree to it for their daughters, compared with only one in 10 (11%) to one in four of those of South Asian ethnicity. Those with non-Christian beliefs were also significantly less likely to agree to it.

The most common reasons for refusal were lack of information about the vaccine; concerns that it would promote early sexual activity/promiscuity; fears that the vaccine would be harmful, and/or would not protect against cervical cancer.

The authors point out that most of the research on uptake of the vaccine has been carried out among predominantly white British families, but in parts of the UK the proportion of people from ethnic minority backgrounds rises to 30%, and in some areas of London it is as high as 71%.

"If these findings map on to uptake, it may mean some areas of the UK achieve particularly low uptake," they said.

(GK/BMcc)