Singaporean Women's Knowledge of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and Attitudes Toward HPV Vaccination

With a vaccination program currently planned to protect Singaporean women from human papillomavirus, a need arises for assessing Singaporean women's knowledge of human papillomavirus and attitudes toward human papillomavirus vaccination to identify barriers to a successful program and to help inform health education campaigns. A representative sample of 2,145 women aged between 18 and 49 years were randomly selected from households throughout Singapore and interviewed with a similar questionnaire to that used in a recent study of Australian women. Although Singaporean women's knowledge of human papillomavirus was poor, with only 20% having heard of it, attitudes toward human papillomavirus vaccination were generally positive. The most trusted sources of information about human papillomavirus and vaccination were gynecologists and general practitioners. Based on our findings, an urgent need exists in Singapore for accurate and accessible information about human papillomavirus and the benefits of vaccination.