Key public health message
cancers
CANCERS, VIRUS, CERVICAL CANCER, HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS, GENITAL CANCER

Human papillomavirus (HPV) can cause genital cancer. Vaccination against HPV protects against virus types causing most cases of cervical cancer, as well as some other cancers. Vaccine uptake among adolescents varies in France and other European countries. We wanted to investigate awareness, uptake and intention of HPV vaccination among French adolescents and factors affecting vaccination.
Adolescents were less aware of vaccination and less often vaccinated or planning to vaccinate if their parents had a lower education, other languages than French were spoken at home and the family lived in a poorer area. Importantly, if the adolescents had recently visited a family physician or were taught about vaccinations at school, vaccination or planning to vaccinate were independent of parental education, language or neighbourhood.
Family physicians and school lessons on vaccination are important in promoting systematic vaccination of all adolescents against HPV, irrespective of their social context. How to use such communication ways to enhance vaccination in France needs further investigation.