(no subject)
Please read.
Will cancer vaccine get to all women?
NewScientist.com news service(Written in 2005; vaccine is now available)
DEATHS from cervical cancer could jump fourfold to a million a year by 2050, mainly in developing countries. This could be prevented by soon-to-be-approved vaccines against the virus that causes most cases of cervical cancer - but there are signs that opposition to the vaccines might lead to many preventable deaths.
The trouble is that the human papilloma virus (HPV) is sexually transmitted. So to prevent infection, girls will have to be vaccinated before they become sexually active, which could be a problem in many countries.
In the US... religious groups are gearing up to oppose vaccination, despite a survey showing 80 per cent of parents favour vaccinating their daughters. "Abstinence is the best way to prevent HPV," says Bridget Maher of the Family Research Council, a leading Christian lobby group that has made much of the fact that, because it can spread by skin contact, condoms are not as effective against HPV as they are against other viruses such as HIV.
"Giving the HPV vaccine to young women could be potentially harmful, because they may see it as a licence to engage in premarital sex," Maher claims, though it is arguable how many young women have even heard of the virus.
...HPV is extremely common. Half of all sexually active women between 18 and 22 in the US are infected. Most cases clear up, but sometimes infection persists and can cause cancer decades later.
While vaccination could slash infection rates, its cancer-preventing benefits will not be evident for decades, as it will take that long for vaccinated girls to reach an age when they might otherwise have developed cancer. Meanwhile, millions of women who are already infected must be screened and treated. If there is widespread resistance to vaccination, it will take even longer for its benefits to become clear.
It is still important for women to get vaccinated if they are sexually active too - in all probability, it will still prevent the virus.
Vaccinating men could be the best way to prevent the spread of HPV among women.
- Oh God that makes me so sick so sick. Why would people resist the one, the ONLY know vaccine for cancer? Even though it probably does not, who cares that it may encourage premarital sex? Even if you DO wait until marriage, your husband could have contracted it from someone else - i.e. abstinence from sex without the vaccination could still cost your life.
-And don't write this off as feminist/liberal ranting; though I may do my share of both, this post is genuine disgust with the state of popular American sentiment.
Will cancer vaccine get to all women?
NewScientist.com news service(Written in 2005; vaccine is now available)
DEATHS from cervical cancer could jump fourfold to a million a year by 2050, mainly in developing countries. This could be prevented by soon-to-be-approved vaccines against the virus that causes most cases of cervical cancer - but there are signs that opposition to the vaccines might lead to many preventable deaths.
The trouble is that the human papilloma virus (HPV) is sexually transmitted. So to prevent infection, girls will have to be vaccinated before they become sexually active, which could be a problem in many countries.
In the US... religious groups are gearing up to oppose vaccination, despite a survey showing 80 per cent of parents favour vaccinating their daughters. "Abstinence is the best way to prevent HPV," says Bridget Maher of the Family Research Council, a leading Christian lobby group that has made much of the fact that, because it can spread by skin contact, condoms are not as effective against HPV as they are against other viruses such as HIV.
"Giving the HPV vaccine to young women could be potentially harmful, because they may see it as a licence to engage in premarital sex," Maher claims, though it is arguable how many young women have even heard of the virus.
...HPV is extremely common. Half of all sexually active women between 18 and 22 in the US are infected. Most cases clear up, but sometimes infection persists and can cause cancer decades later.
While vaccination could slash infection rates, its cancer-preventing benefits will not be evident for decades, as it will take that long for vaccinated girls to reach an age when they might otherwise have developed cancer. Meanwhile, millions of women who are already infected must be screened and treated. If there is widespread resistance to vaccination, it will take even longer for its benefits to become clear.
It is still important for women to get vaccinated if they are sexually active too - in all probability, it will still prevent the virus.
Vaccinating men could be the best way to prevent the spread of HPV among women.
- Oh God that makes me so sick so sick. Why would people resist the one, the ONLY know vaccine for cancer? Even though it probably does not, who cares that it may encourage premarital sex? Even if you DO wait until marriage, your husband could have contracted it from someone else - i.e. abstinence from sex without the vaccination could still cost your life.
-And don't write this off as feminist/liberal ranting; though I may do my share of both, this post is genuine disgust with the state of popular American sentiment.