RSPH have today launched new research into children and young people’s (CYP) attitudes, perceptions and experiences of vaccines.

The research findings, based on a representative survey of CYP across the four nations, show that:

• 92% of CYP think vaccines are important to their health and 82% trust vaccines.
• Children from black and Asian backgrounds (74% and 71% respectively) trust vaccines less than their white peers (85%). 
• They are also less likely to know which vaccines are available to them. For the HPV vaccine, 28% of Asian and 30% of black CYP knew about availability, compared to 41% of their white peers.
• 69% of Asian and 68% of black CYP said they were worried about vaccine safety, whereas only 54% of white peers shared the same concern.

The report sets out solutions, including developing tailored strategies to improve access to vaccine information and support, improving funding for the public health workforce and increasing the number of Young Health Champions.

Click here to read full report 

MSD UK has funded this project and has had no editorial input into the content.