A Censis survey photographs confidence in prevention, but with the pandemic, checks and vaccinations (which were already low) have dropped for the Papillomavirus, responsible for about 6,500 avoidable cancers each year
In Italy it is estimated that each year the Papillomavirus (or Hpv) is responsible for about 6,500 new cases of cancers in both sexes, about 12 thousand high-grade anogenital lesions in women and at least 80 thousand cases of genital warts. Diseases that could disappear, or at least become very rare, thanks to vaccination offered free in our country to males and females twelve-year-olds, yet still too little exploited today. Although Italians fear cancer more than any other disease and two out of three compatriots believe in prevention, the pandemic reduces screening and vaccinations underlines Ketty Vaccaro, head of the Welfare and Health Area of Censis, who presented today, on the occasion of the International HPV Awareness Day, a new report that analyzes the perception of papillomavirus cancer risk.
Italy back
Although critical areas still emerge from the Censis survey, there is also good news: on the one hand, in fact, the number of compatriots who know HPV rises and who are quite well informed about its consequences, even though too many still mistakenly believe that it is a virus that only affects women. On the other hand the share of parents who want to vaccinate their children is growing: an important step because membership in Italy is still far from reaching the desired values. According to the latest statistics, in fact, about half of eligible adolescents in Italy have not received the vaccination. Some of the 150 strains of the Hpv virus that is transmitted sexuallyhave a key role in the onset both tumors and precancerous lesions (genital warts) male and female – explains Adriana Bonifacino, president of IncontraDonna Onlus -. Papillomavirus is the second largest cancer pathogen in the world. Although most infections resolve spontaneously, in case of persistence and chronicization, the infection can evolve over time into precancerous lesions and cancer. Vaccination is the most important weapon in defeating the neoplasms caused by this virus. And while the pandemic caused a major setback, even before that the optimal coverage of 95% was far off.
Uterine cervix, a young tumor
Yet the most recent statistics demonstrate the effectiveness, in addition to safety, of vaccination against the Papillomavirus. Where you started first (as in Australia) or where the membership was massive (for example in Denmark) precancerous lesions have practically disappeared and this bodes well for the future: experts from all over the world are convinced that tumors of the uterine cervix and those affecting the oropharynx, vulva, vagina, penis, anus are destined to disappear. Or at least to become very rare. In our country, cervical cancer still represents the fifth most frequent cancer in young women, under 50 years of age. Statistics in hand, 99.7% of cases caused by persistent Papillomavirus (Hpv) infection. The opportunity offered by the vaccine is crucial: we can defend our children from cancer – said Saverio Cinieri, president of the Italian Association of Medical Oncology -. Suffice it to say that every year more than 3 thousand Italian women receive a diagnosis of cervical cancer caused by the Papillomavirus and about a thousand die. A disease that, on the other hand, may no longer be scary. In fact, vaccination with HPV at the center of the actions promoted by the World Health Organization and the European Cancer Organization which have created a network to erase cervical cancer and all related HPV by 2030.
Parents want to vaccinate their children
From the new Censis Report, produced with the unconditional support of Msd Italia, tumors are in any case the most feared diseases of all, more than dementias, pathologies that cause physical and cardiovascular non self-sufficiency. Pap-test and Hpv-test are the checks that women said they had carried out the most in the last three years (62.9%) – says Vaccaro -. The Pap test is a well-established prevention tool, known by almost all women. Less well known the most recently introduced HPV-test, which still only 51.3% of parents know. 57.3% of women were sensitized by the specialist on the importance of treating Hpv infection because it can cause cervical cancer, while only 25.4% were recommended vaccination. Finally – concludes the expert – the parents who have decided to vaccinate at least one child against the Papillomavirus have increased over time, going from 33.3% in 2017 to 43.3% in 2019, up to 46.1% today. Compared to 2019, the number of people interested in anti-HPV vaccination who have not yet vaccinated their children also increased, from 25.4% to 28.1%, and in parallel there is a reduction in parents who say they are not interested in vaccination ( they were 30.6% in 2017, they are 11.3% in 2022).
March 4, 2022 (change March 4, 2022 | 16:09)
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