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November 3, 2005
What is Your Position on Cancer Prevention?
If you are for it, keep reading. If you are against it, please go somewhere else.
Most of my readers likely read Pharyungula or Mike the Mad Biologist or others that have addressed this issue but for the few of you who may not have heard about it, there are those who oppose a vaccine for cervical cancer that is almost 100% effective. Having the vaccine just might send a message to teenagers that it might be safe to have sex. No, this is not another lame attempt at humor on my part. This is deadly serious. According to the San Francisco Chronicle,
Because the vaccine protects against a sexually transmitted virus, many conservatives oppose making it mandatory, citing fears that it could send a subtle message condoning sexual activity before marriage. Several leading groups that promote abstinence are meeting this week to formulate official policies on the vaccine.
I supposed they would rather have women die a very unpleasant death or, if lucky, life-changing surgery than risk the chance that someone might think that it was OK to have sex with out marriage. While the vaccine would primarily be targeted at girls, it could and should also be given to boys. Boys and men spread two of the most common cancer-causing human papilloma virus strains. Both men and women can be infected with the virus and not know it. Only 10,000 U.S. women seek treatment for cervical cancer each year but it has a staggering mortality rate of 37%. While these are not big numbers, they will almost all be preventable if the vaccine comes in to common use.
The debate is actually over whether it should be mandatory for high school admission or not. If one looks at the strides made to improve health, mandatory vaccination for communicable diseases is high on the list of success stories. While, some parents think they should have a choice, they will have little choice in who their daughter has sex with, or who she marries. And repeating "abstinence" over and over will not change that fact.
Posted by Duane Smith at November 3, 2005 3:36 PM | Read more on Odds and Ends |
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Comments
I think anyone who would deny the vaccine is seriously twisted and needs therapy.
Posted by: afarensis at November 3, 2005 8:07 PM
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