Sexual initiation increasingly early offers high vulnerability of adolescent to problems in the sexual/reproductive scenario, including cancer of the uterine cervix and HPV infection. This study aimed to identify the knowledge, attitude and practice in the prevention of cervical cancer and HPV infection in adolescent populations and assess the situations that make them vulnerable. The cross-sectional study was conducted in a public school in Sao Paulo with 134 adolescents between 14 and 19 years old. The age of sexual initiation is 14.8 years on average. Most adolescents had no adequate knowledge about the prevention of this malignancy. The access to Papanicolaou test was also low in this population. Statistics justify the inclusion of adolescents in programs for detection of cancer. We must invest in sex education in educational institutions and join the campaign for collecting Papanicolaou with educational activities with appropriate focus and language appropriate to change the current scenario.
Adolescent; Sexually Transmitted Diseases; Vaginal Smears; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms
