OBJECTIVES: The main objective of our study was to assess the population’s participation in cervical smear testing and knowledge on HPV, also learn about women’s attitudes about the vaccine. METHODS: The quantitative cross-sectional questionnaire survey was performed among women in a Hungarian town, Vác in 2013. 150 questionnaires were distributed, of which 120 proved to be evaluable. The study was performed with χ-test and t-test as a statistical method besides 95% probability (p<0.05). We used SPSS version 20.0 program. RESULTS: of respondent women reported an annual visit for screening. Their average age was 22.01±.5.8SD years when they first attended screening. Women participated in screening were significantly (t=4.89, p<0,001) older (36.56), than those who never took part in (26.62). Five questions in the survey concerned knowledge on HPV. On the basis of these questions only 27.9% of the women had adequate knowledge. The majority of women (80.8%) knew the meaning of the acronym HPV, at the same time only 29.2% of them knew that the infection affected "both men and women". Concerning prevention only women living in marriage or cohabitation (χ=20.00, p=0.001) were significantly better informed on the issue than single mothers. 85% of the respondent women heard about the vaccination against HPV. Only 10 women of the respondents had HPV vaccination, and significantly more women over 34 years of age would require vaccination for themselves (χ=9.010, p=0.011) and their daughters (χ=7.415, p=0.006) than their younger counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: Women reported an extremely high participation rate in cervical cancer screening, however the overall awareness of human papillomavirus in the respondents is superficial (27.9%), therefore, their willingness for vaccination is not adequate. In the future, a wide range of information should be provided for them to enhance their awareness.