Human Papillomavirus (HPV)-mediated
cervical cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in women worldwide, including Indian women.
Cervical cancer control and prevention strategies are being adopted in developing nations to reduce the increasing burden of
HPV infection in the
vaccine era. The present study, therefore, aimed to evaluate
cervical cancer awareness and knowledge of
Gardasil vaccination in North Indian women. A pilot survey was conducted among 103 women of North Indian ethnicity residing in Lucknow/adjoining areas in state of Uttar Pradesh, during routine screening/
clinic visits from June 2012 to December 2012. The study subjects were interviewed in either Hindi or English; subsequently the awareness of HPV-mediated
cervical cancer and knowledge of
Gardasil vaccination was assessed in terms of "yes", "no" and "no response". The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board. Written informed consent was taken from the participants. Overall, the response of participants (n = 103) in our single-centre survey-based pilot study was well-defined. The response regarding HPV-mediated
cervical cancer awareness in terms of "yes", "no" and "no response" among the study subjects was 43.7, 44.7 and 11.6 %, respectively. Furthermore, in response to knowledge of
HPV vaccine Gardasil, out of 103 subjects, 28.1 % answered "yes" while 37.9 and 34.0 % stated "no" and "no response", respectively. Our pilot survey may help in assessing knowledge of HPV-mediated
cervical cancer and
Gardasil vaccination awareness in women, and accordingly develop cost-effective
cervical cancer control and prevention/public health counseling sessions in a clinical setting.