HPV vaccine not so popular yet

A staff reporter for the American Journal
in Westbrook, she is a graduate of
Bowdoin College.

If you could do something
now to prevent you
or your daughter from
getting cancer in the
future, would you?
I think it would be hard
for most people to say no
to this question, but there
are still plenty of young
women out there who
have yet to get the vaccine
that could potentially
eradicate cervical cancer
the second leading
cause of cancer deaths in
the world, according to
the Centers for Disease
Control.

The vaccine for human
papillomavirus (HPV),
which was approved by
the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration in 2006,
protects against the four
most common strains
of HPV that cause about
70 percent of cervical
cancer.

According to the state's
chief health officer, Dr.
Dora Mills, director of the
Maine Bureau of Health,
about 15 Maine women
die each year from cervical
cancer. She said that
number has dropped dramatically
from 40 years
ago, when it was the
leading cause of cancer
deaths among women,
because more frequent
screenings have led doctors
to catch the cancer
in its early stages.
However, the vaccine,
Mills said, could
eliminate cervical cancer
deaths in the state entirely.

It provides a lot of
promise, said Mills,
mother of a 6-year-old
daughter who will be
vaccinated in three years.
Currently, the vaccine
is recommended for
females between 9 and
26 years old, but ideally
around the age of 11
or 12, before their first
sexual contact. It's administered
in three shots
within a 6-month period,
and runs at about $125
per dose.

According to Skeek
Frazee, spokeswoman
for Planned Parenthood
of Northern New England,
Maine locations
of the family-planning
group have administered
around 250 injections to
date a number, she said,
that is much lower than
in Vermont and New
Hampshire.

Most insurance plans
cover the vaccine, Frazee
said. But Planned Parenthood
can't assist women
without insurance in paying
for the vaccine, like
they do for other services,
because of the high cost
to Planned Parenthood.
The cost of the vaccine
may be a barrier for
some, but others have expressed
opposition based
on the nature of acquiring
the virus from
sexual contact. Frazee
said when the vaccine
was first introduced,
some people believed it
would be a green light
for excessive sexual activity.

Now, however, she
said, that concern has
lessened, comparing its
ludicrousness to saying
that seat belts promote
reckless driving.

Frazee said the vaccine
is gaining momentum as
a routine vaccine, and
she has seen it recommended
by colleges for
incoming students.

Though Mills said she
is not mandating the vaccine
for Maine women
yet, it will be something
to consider in the future.
It's not that I'm closed
to the idea, she said, but
I think it's premature.
There's no doubt that
the vaccine itself and
people's thoughts about
it will change in coming
years. Frazee said there's
talk of offering it to men
as well, because throat
cancer is also associated
with HPV.

For now, however, it
seems the goal should
be to incorporate this
vaccine into the group of
shots that most people
don't think twice about
getting, right alongside
mumps and measles.
And we can only hope
there will be similarly
simple ways of preventing
other cancers in the
future.