12 October 2026
More than half of Belgians do not know that HPV can cause cancer. What is behind this? And how can we translate the prevention tools already available into fewer HPV-related cancers? In the latest episode of Inditalks, four complementary perspectives come together.
More than half of Belgians do not know that HPV can cause cancer. Yet today, we have effective tools to prevent many HPV-related cancers — and opportunities to detect cancer earlier. A national survey commissioned by All.Can Belgium and conducted earlier this year by Indiville among 1,160 Belgian adults reveals important gaps in knowledge about human papillomavirus (HPV), cancer prevention and screening.
The findings are striking: 56% of Belgians do not know that HPV can cause cancer, even though the virus is responsible for more than 1,000 cancer diagnoses in Belgium every year.
HPV is still too often associated only with cervical cancer or perceived as a women’s health issue. In reality, HPV can also play a role in anal, penile, vulvar, vaginal and certain head and neck cancers. Around 40% of HPV-related cancers occur outside the cervix, meaning HPV-related cancers affect both women and men. Yet only 30% of Belgians know that HPV can cause cancer in men.
At the same time, there is strong support for prevention. Three in four Belgians believe preventing HPV-related cancers should be a priority, and two in three believe it is important to vaccinate boys as well as girls. But only 26% feel sufficiently informed about HPV prevention.
Screening is another area where gaps remain. One in four women say they rarely or never have a cervical smear test. Practical and emotional barriers — including discomfort, forgetting and lack of information — can prevent people from participating in screening.
What is behind these figures? And how can we translate the prevention tools already available into fewer HPV-related cancers?
In the latest episode of Inditalks, Indiville’s podcast series, four complementary perspectives come together.
Wouter Samyn, a researcher at Indiville, takes us through the survey results and what they reveal about knowledge, attitudes and behaviour around HPV in Belgium.
Prof. Alex Vorsters, from the Centre for the Evaluation of Vaccination at the University of Antwerp and coordinator of the HPV Prevention and Control Board, brings his expertise in HPV prevention and vaccination.
Dr. Kobe Dewilde, gynaecologist at UZ Leuven, focuses on cervical cancer and the importance of screening and early detection.
And Dr. Pia Cox, Executive Director of All.Can Belgium, connects these perspectives around one essential message: HPV prevention is cancer prevention.
Vaccination, screening and awareness should therefore not be considered in isolation. Together, they can help prevent HPV-related cancers and identify disease earlier. The challenge is not only to make these tools available, but also to ensure that people understand why they matter and are supported in using them.
Prevention is the first goal. But where cancer cannot be prevented, detecting it as early as possible matters.
This is also at the heart of All.Can Belgium’s #GetCheckedEarly campaign: helping people understand their risks, recognise possible warning signs, participate in recommended screening and know when to seek medical advice.
The HPV survey demonstrates why this matters. Having prevention and screening programmes in place is not enough if people do not know about them or face barriers to participating. Clear, accessible information is an essential part of helping people make informed choices about their health.
For HPV-related cancers, this means bringing together awareness, vaccination, screening and early detection.
Prevent what we can. Detect cancer as early as we can.
🎧 Listen to the new episode of Inditalks, produced by Indiville with All.Can Belgium, to hear the survey results and our experts’ views on how we can close the gap between the prevention opportunities available today and the people who benefit from them.
Listen to the HPV podcast on SoundCloud
About Indiville
Indiville is a Leuven-based research and consultancy agency and a spin-off of KU Leuven. It carries out research for governments, organisations and companies on social themes ranging from education and mobility to healthcare and welfare. Its approach combines research with advice on putting the findings into practice, and it often involves stakeholders directly through participatory methods. In its podcast series Inditalks, researchers and experts discuss those findings and the societal issues behind them.
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