Badalyan, Arman R., Hovhannisyan, Marine, Ghavalyan, Gayane, Ter-Stepanyan, Mary M., Cave, Rory, Cole, Jennifer, Farlow, Andrew W.K. and Mkrtchyan, Hermine (2021) Knowledge, attitude, and practice of physicians regarding vaccinations in Yerevan, Armenia: a case study of HPV. Vaccines, 9 (10). p. 1188.

Preview

PDF Knowledge,_attitude,_and_practice_of_physicians_regarding_vaccinations_in_Yerevan,_Armenia_a_case_study_of_HPV.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (885kB) | Preview

Abstract

This paper highlights the low levels of vaccine coverage and high levels of reported vaccination hesitancy in Yerevan, Armenia that present profound challenges to the control of disease through routine vaccination programmes. We draw on investigations of hesitancy towards the introduction of new vaccines, using the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine Gardasil as a case study, to interrogate underlying challenges to vaccine acceptance. We analyse primary data from the introduction of Gardasil, first used in Armenia in 2017, to investigate how levels of medical knowledge amongst physicians in 20 health facilities in Yerevan, Armenia regarding vaccine science, influence attitudes towards the introduction a newly developed vaccine. A questionnaire- based cross-sectional study was completed by 348 physicians between December 2017 and September 2018. The responding physicians displayed a respectable level of knowledge and awareness regarding vaccination with respect to some characteristics (e.g. more than 81% knew that HPV infection was commonly asymptomatic, 73% knew that HPV infection was implicated in most cervical cancers and 87% knew that cervical cancer is the most prevalent cancer amongst women) but low knowledge and poor understanding of other key issues such as the age at which women were most likely to develop cervical cancer (only 15% answered correctly); whether or not the vaccine should be administered to people who had already been infected (27% answered correctly) and whether sexually-active young people should be treated for infection before vaccination (26% answered correctly). The study suggests that drivers of vaccine hesitancy are complex and may not be consistent from vaccine to vaccine. The Armenian healthcare sector may need to provide additional training, awareness-raising and educational activities alongside the introduction of new vaccines to improve understanding of, and trust in, vaccination programmes.

Item Type:	Article
Identifier:	10.3390/vaccines9101188
Keywords:	immunization; vaccine confidence; vaccine hesitancy; HPV; cervical cancer; Gardasil
Subjects:	Medicine and health > Health promotion and public health Medicine and health > Health promotion and public health > Infection prevention
Related URLs:	Publisher Publisher
Depositing User:	Hermine Mkrtchyan
Date Deposited:	12 Oct 2021 15:13
Last Modified:	04 Nov 2024 11:24
URI:	https://repository.uwl.ac.uk/id/eprint/8336

Downloads

Actions (login required)

View Item