HPV Vaccination Pros HPV Vaccines

HPV Vaccination Pros HPV vaccines -- like Gardasil - now exist and are a proven way to prevent 70% of cervical cancers and 90% of all cases of genital warts if they are given to women and girls prior their first sexual encounter. While vaccination is heralded by some as too expensive for the Canadian healthcare system to pay for -- it is considered the world's most expensive vaccine (CBC 2009) -- it is massively important for the future health of women in Canada.

The Canadian healthcare system should cover the costs of vaccination for all women and girls who want it. School health personnel also have an important job in creating a discussion about the HPV vaccine and its benefits. Education is vital in making sure that women and girls know the consequences of contracting HPV and are aware that there is a vaccine that can protect their health and -- perhaps -- save their lives.

In Canada alone, "about 400 die from the disease each year and another 1,350 or so are diagnosed with it" (2009). These deaths can be prevented if all women and girls who want it can be vaccinated.

Some argue that the Canadian health care system is an "already overburdened system" (Norsigian et al., 2007), however, the costs of not offering this vaccine will be much more expensive for the health care system in the future as more women and girls will require treatment for HPV symptoms -- including irregular pap smears, genital warts -- and, in the worst case, cervical cancer.

"By most estimates, as many as 250,000 women, most of them in less-developed countries, die each year of cervical cancer, and French researchers have said that the number could jump fourfold by 2050 if nothing is done" (CBC 2009). The value of the vaccination could go up, the CBC (2009) notes, if growing lobby of health groups gets what it wants (2009). U.S.

doctors suggest that leaving the HPV vaccination to those people with private health insurance or "hit-and-miss government programs is creating an unconscionable Sophie's choice or roulette game" where some girls and women are vulnerable to HPV and related illnesses and others aren't (2009).

Opponents who don't think the Canadian health care system should cover HPV vaccinations argue that the 90% of genital warts and 70% of cervical cancers can be eliminated altogether by simply altering one's behavior, so why should the Canadian health care system be expected to pay? Gardasil is a revolutionary vaccine and, though it can't be used as a treatment or cure for cervical cancer or genital warts (Norsigian et al. 2007), it can prevent HPV infection of those strains that cause the aforementioned symptoms of HPV (2007).

While the vaccine is costly - approximately $405 in Canada -, the costs of not offering free or low-cost inoculation will be seen in a dollar amount as well as in overall public health. Opponents may believe that the HPV vaccine is a way of condoning promiscuity -- and protection will lead to risk-taking in sexual encounters. Some educators even believe that it sends young girls mixed messages about abstention from sex as well as the notion that it diminishes parental authority.

While there is logic in the argument that HPV could be prevented by abstinence, it is not a rationale statement. There isn't any way that people will stop having sex. While we all know that abstinence can prevent teen or unwanted pregnancies and sexually-transmitted diseases -- even the emergence of HIV / AIDS did not stop people from having sex. The HPV vaccine should be available to all girls and women who want to take an extra step in protecting themselves from the risk of HPV symptoms and cervical cancer.

Acceptance of the vaccine is important and must not be considered something that is justifying promiscuity -- rather, it is important to remember that nearly all people who are sexually active will get HPV at some point in their lives. If we consider this, making the HPV vaccine a normal preventative measure isn't just common sense, but it is the only responsible action that a country can take in ensuring the health of its citizens.

The HPV vaccine -- Gardasil -- can be given to girls as young as 9 and 10 years of age, however, it is recommended for girls who are between the ages of 11 and 12 as well as women between the ages of 13 and 26. Ideally, one would want to get vaccinated before her first sexual experience, but women who have not yet come into HPV contact who have had sexual intercourse already will also benefit from the vaccine.

The New England Journal of Medicine (Haug, 2008) notes that there have been very promising results in clinical trials and the two vaccines created have been for the most important "oncogenic strains (i.e., the HPV-16 and HPV-18 serotypes) (2008). With reports such as this, there is not reason for all women and girls to not want to get the vaccine as a preventative measure. The only way there is to ensure that.