Death by cervical cancer

Denial of HPV vaccine for girls

 

Amy Staples
The Advocate

Another battle in the war on cancer was won this year when the Food and Drug Administration approved a drug called Gardasil.

Merck’s new drug is a vaccine for human papilloma virus (HPV) which is responsible for almost all cases of cervical cancer.

The American Cancer Society reported that more than 9,000 women are expected to get cervical cancer this year, and 3,700 will die from it.

A vaccine against the only virus proven to cause cancer is a giant step in removing the threat to women’s health.

Surprisingly, debate has been raging since the FDA began considering the drug for approval last year. First question was who should be vaccinated?

Should girls and boys be vaccinated for protecting all people, although researchers don’t know yet if the vaccine works in males to prevent cancer.

The feathers really started to fly when doctors suggested girls get vaccinated prior to puberty. Many parents were afraid getting the vaccine would send the message to young women that unprotected sex was safe. Those in the religious right also harbor these beliefs.

Perhaps the biggest issue here is the cost of the drug. Three injections given over a period of six months cost a total of $360.

Many people are finding their insurance companies won’t cover the cost. Uninsured families may find it difficult to pay for the vaccine.

The good news is the Center for Disease Control (CDC) is making the vaccine part of their Vaccines for Children Program that provides vaccinations for uninsured and poor children.
With this step, surely insurance companies will follow and start covering this preventative measure as they cover all other routine childhood vaccinations.

Women and girls in other countries should be so lucky.

This is a breakthrough that can prevent thousands of deaths a year in the United States alone.

If drug companies and aid groups work to make the vaccine accessible and affordable in developing countries, the number of lives saved could be in the hundreds of thousands.

According to the World Health Organization, in the year 2000 233,372 women died from cervical cancer worldwide.

The bulk of these deaths were in developing countries where cervical cancer screenings are not readily accessible, let alone treatment for cancer. The vaccine can save thousands of women, not to mention their families, of the pain this disease causes.

Abstinence-only proponents have long touted HPV as proof chastity is the only way to live until marriage. HPV is one STD condoms don’t always protect against, as it is spread through skin to skin contact, not body fluids.

Pictures of genitals affected by HPV have long been a staple in sex education programs to show young adults proof of the evils of unsafe sex. With this vaccine, perhaps the argument conservatives have been bleating for years will meet some opposition: There is such thing as safe sex.