Table 6.
Misinformation, communications, and social mobilization of the human papillomavirus vaccination program—Responses from the health workers, school personnel, community leaders, and council leaders interviewed for the HPV vaccine program community awareness, feasibility, and acceptability surveys, Tanzania, October–November 2019.
| Health Workers N = 165 | School Personnel N = 135 | Community Leaders N = 143 | Council Leaders N = 18 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | (%) | n | (%) | n | (%) | n | (%) | |
| Have you heard any misinformation (e.g. rumors) regarding HPV vaccine? | ||||||||
| Yes | 89 | (54) | 77 | (57) | 61 | (43) | 11 | (61) |
| No | 76 | (46) | 58 | (43) | 82 | (57) | 7 | (39) |
| What misinformation? 1,2 | ||||||||
| HPV vaccine will affect girl’s fertility | 87 | (98) | 74 | (96) | 60 | (98) | 10 | (91) |
| HPV vaccine will cause cervical cancer | 10 | (11) | 5 | (6) | 4 | (7) | 0 | (0) |
| HPV vaccine will cause severe side effects | 3 | (3) | 1 | (1) | 2 | (3) | 1 | (9) |
| HPV vaccine costs money | 0 | (0) | 0 | (0) | 0 | (0) | 0 | (0) |
| HPV vaccine is not safe | 5 | (6) | 8 | (10) | 6 | (10) | 0 | (0) |
| HPV vaccine will promote early sexual onset | 3 | (3) | 1 | (1) | 0 | (0) | 0 | (0) |
| HPV vaccine is experimental | 2 | (2) | 7 | (9) | 0 | (0) | 1 | (9) |
| Other | 1 | (1) | 2 | (3) | 6 | (10) | 1 | (9) |
| Overall, do you feel that you have sufficient supply of HPV vaccine social mobilization/communications materials? | ||||||||
| Yes | 36 | (22) | 11 | (8) | 20 | (14) | 10 | (56) |
| No | 129 | (78) | 124 | (92) | 123 | (86) | 8 | (44) |
| What materials are insufficient? 1,3 | ||||||||
| Flyers/Leaflets | 115 | (89) | 106 | (85) | 93 | (76) | 0 | (0) |
| Factsheets | 8 | (6) | 9 | (7) | 1 | (1) | 4 | (50) |
| Posters | 102 | (79) | 80 | (65) | 73 | (59) | 1 | (13) |
| HPV vaccine introduction guidelines | 5 | (4) | 4 | (3) | 6 | (5) | 0 | (0) |
| Video clips | 4 | (3) | 15 | (12) | 7 | (6) | 0 | (0) |
| Other | 20 | (16) | 20 | (16) | 39 | (32) | 3 | (38) |
Multiple responses allowed.
Only asked of those indicated they have heard misinformation regarding HPV vaccine (health workers: n = 89, school personnel: n = 77, community leaders: n = 61, council leaders: n = 11); write-in responses for “other” included that the HPV vaccine is part of a government plan to reduce the population and cervical cancer does not exist).
Only asked of those indicated they felt they do not have sufficient supply of social mobilization/communications materials (health workers: n = 129, school personnel: n = 124, community leaders: n = 123, community leaders: n = 8); write-in responses for “other” included general awareness raising and education, cultural dances, movies, and shows, books on cervical cancer, and the involvement of community political and religious leaders.