Health experts are urging parents to consider having their daughters vaccinated against human papilloma virus (HPV), a sexually transmitted disease responsible for 70 per cent of cervical cancer.
Dr. Maria Lina Diaz of Floridas Cleveland Clinic says a new vaccine against human papilloma virus could save a staggering number of lives. |
The vaccine, which received regulatory approval from the American Food and Drug Administration in June 2006, has been shown to be almost 100 per cent effective in preventing the two strands of HPV that cause cervical cancer, one of the most deadly cancers in the Caribbean.
The region has among the highest rates of cervical cancer in the world, mostly because too many women don’t get regular pap-smears, which can detect cervical cancer.
Dr. Maria Lina Diaz, a gynecologist with Florida’s Cleveland Clinic, says the vaccine is capable of saving a staggering number of lives.
She spent the past week explaining the vaccine after being invited to Grand Cayman by the Cayman Islands Cancer Society for its cervical cancer awareness month.
As part of the awareness month, CICS is offering free pap-smear vouchers in an effort to cut the number of cervical cancer deaths in the Cayman Islands.
In addition to the protection it offers from cervical cancer, the vaccine provides protection against some anal, penile, throat and neck cancers, studies have found. It is also nearly 100 per cent effective in preventing the two strands of HPV that cause 90 per cent of genital warts.
Though it is intended for young women before they become sexually active, the vaccine can be effective for women of all ages to protect them from re-infection, or persistent re-infection.
This year the Australian Government approved the vaccine for use in boys. In addition to protecting them from HPV related genital warts and penile, neck, anus and head cancers, it should prevent them from passing the infection on to women.
No serious side-effects have been observed in the 11,000 females aged nine to 26 that were tested with the vaccine, the US Centres for Disease Control reports.
Marketed as Gardasil, the vaccine has been available from gynecologists in the Cayman Islands for about eight months. Recently, practices have struggled to keep up supply of the drug, such is the demand, said CICS Medical Director Dr. Sook Yin.
Yet the cost of the vaccine could be discouraging to low-income earners, lamented Mrs. Diaz. The three-shot course currently costs about US$360 plus doctor consultation fees.
That money may be hard for some to muster, yet it is miniscule to the costs involved in treating cervical cancers and other diseases associated with HPV, said Mrs. Diaz.
Here in Cayman, CICS is lobbying the Government to provide funding for the vaccine. They are also pressing insurance companies to provide cover for the vaccine, as few policies currently offer any rebate on it.
Mrs. Diaz says all governments should consider funding the vaccination at the school level, arguing it could deliver huge healthcare cost-savings down the line.
‘Let’s look at the big picture. Let’s have some vision here,’ she said Friday.
‘We spend a lot on things in government that are completely ridiculous and frivolous. Lift your priorities and pay for these girls to get their vaccines so they don’t end up dying.’
Arguments like that have already swayed governments abroad. In Australia, 90 per cent of girls in secondary schools are now said to have received the vaccine, due to a free nationwide vaccination program.
This year, the Canadian Federal Government announced a CAD$300 million program to vaccinate girls aged nine to 13.
In the US, some state governments have introduced similar programs, although those efforts have been attacked by conservatives.
Some conservatives argue that introducing the vaccination will encourage promiscuity among teenage girls; others object generally to government mandated vaccinations of any kind. Some went so far as calling the vaccine ‘snake oil’.
‘There are groups that think vaccines in general cause other diseases, so they don’t want any vaccines,’ said Mrs. Diaz.
The argument that vaccinating against a sexually transmitted disease will lead to increased sexual promiscuity is irrational, she said.
‘It’s no different to saying vaccinating for hepatitis C will lead more people to be intravenous drug users – they are not related. I don’t think you can say that any vaccine will lead to sexual promiscuity.
‘I would say that promiscuity has more to do with upbringing, with family values, with religious upbringing and self-respect.’
In any event, Mrs. Diaz says it is important to remember that the vaccine is not a blanket vaccine against sexually transmitted diseases, and provides no protection from conditions such as gonorrhoea, chlamydia, herpes or HIV/AIDS.
She thinks the vaccination should be a no-brainer for parents. ‘Don’t fear the vaccine, fear the disease … Do everything you can to get it for your daughter because the consequences of cervical cancer are devastating.’
And Mrs. Diaz’s message to women generally: ‘Pap smears save lives. Women need to be responsible and get them. For low-income earners, a voucher program is available. With the Cancer Society offering vouchers, there really is no excuse for not getting yearly pap-smears.’
What is HPV?
HPV is a diverse group of DNA-based viruses that has over 100 known strands. Thirty of these strands can be sexually transmitted, and can affect the genital area of both men and women.
However, most people that become infected with HPV show no symptoms and will get rid of the infection without knowing. Others that don’t shake the virus may still be unaware they have it.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 50 per cent of sexually active people will get genital HPV at some point in their lives, and 80 per cent of women will have acquired it by age 50.
FYI
For more information call the Cayman Islands Cancer Society on 949-7618.
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