If you click on the title of this entry it will take you to a discussion of cervical cancer in the USA and how every state in the union is performing in preventing it with the 'ancient' art of Pap Smears.
Why is it that society begrudges women a life? It's just amazing to have an entire state take a huge backward leap in time to allow cancer deaths. If one clicks on the title of the entry below and look for Texas you will find a state that ranks among the poorest in performance in protecting women. THE POOREST PERFORMER.
Now, to realize the level of poor performance in the entire nation with only four states, Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina and Massachusetts receiving a 'VERY GOOD' rating (There are no EXCELLANT ratings. None.) is to realize how important this vaccine is for a happy and care free life. No more Pap Smears if proven in time to be very effective. No more chances of death. Care free. Is there something wrong with a woman having a carefree life? I guess in Texas there is.
To be complete about this issue there are some side effects:
HPV Vaccine's Side Effects Come To Light (click on)
Kim Mulvihill, M.D.
Reporting
(CBS 5) SAN FRANCISCO Federal health officials presented new data Wednesday on the adverse reactions of a vaccine for human papilloma virus that also works to prevent some cancer in women.
The vaccine, Gardasil, acts to prevent cervical cancer by blocking certain strains of the human papilloma virus.
Hundreds of thousands of girls and young women have gotten at least one dose of Gardasil since the FDA approved it last June.
Dr. Barbara Moscicki is a pediatrician at the University of California at San Francisco Medical Center and has studied Gardasil. The vaccine represents a breakthrough, says Dr. Moscicki, and that "this vaccine is so exciting that we can actually make a huge change in cancers worldwide."
Now, there's new information about the three-dose vaccine's adverse side effects.
The Centers for Disease Control collected more than 500 complaints since the vaccine's approval last June, including: soreness at the injection site, fainting or dizziness and fever or nausea.
And, while Gardasil is considered safe, the vaccine is still surrounded by controversy.
Dr. Moscicki said, "We need to make the vaccine better than it is. It still only protects against 70 percent of invasive cancers. It doesn't protect 100 percent, and isn't that what we would like?"
There's also a concern brewing over making the vaccine mandatory for 11- and 12-year-old girls in order to attend school.
At least 20 states are considering it, including California. Critics complain the action preempts parental choice and may promote promiscuity.
One mother in San Francisco told CBS 5 HealthWatch that she's "very much for abstinence. I think that should be emphasized much more because with abstinence you have no need for the drugs and no exposure to the virus and I think that really does solve the problem."
However, 44 percent of teens in a recent survey report they've already had intercourse or oral sex by the end of 10th grade, and that young girls who have sex too soon face a risk that a vaccine can't prevent.
Dr. Bonnie Halpern-Feisher, a psychologist at the UCSF, conducted the survey and says girls are reporting more negative consequences about having sex before they are emotionally ready, and that they are "feeling guilty, feeling bad about themselves and being used."
As for the California legislation that would make the vaccine mandatory for school girls, it's too early to tell if it's going to become law.
However, it's clearly time for parents to have an honest and frank talk with their teens about sex.
THERE IS absolutely no reason for women to shy away from receiving this vaccine. I wish Merck would find a way to allow all women of all ages to receive it nationwide. I feel that strongly about this vaccine.
For as long as I have been a liberated woman and realized cervical cancer is caused from a virus I have always felt this society was discounting an opportunity to save the lives of women. It feels good to have a company take an interest in a disease as horrible as cervical cancer and develope a long needed and 'justified' vaccine.
Cervical cancer is a horrible death. There is no reason for it. In an age of profiteers and little 'profit' for vaccines, it is reassuring that Merck has a product that reached for a high moral purpose and achieved it. I am pleased they are profitting from it and wish they would use those profits to do more vital research.
Governor Perry and every governor that reached out to protect women from such a deadly disease are great people and I applaud them. You just don't know how long I have waited for this and advocated for it. It's wonderful affirmation that American cares about their girls and women.
Quite frankly, there is no BAD time to talk about sex with adolescents. The less mystery and the more they have self esteem that includes their developing sexuality the sooner they accept their responsibility toward it.
Merck might want to develop an infant vaccine so there doesn't have to be a discussion of sex, but, then the extremists would find another reason to reject it.
We need a federal mandate to vaccinate all girls with this vaccine, no different than the meningitis vaccine (click on).
The Christian extremists are putting their children in harms' way. This is a matter of the federal government doing it's job. I don't mean to victimize anyone here, but, everyone is aware of the issue with blood transfusions and Jehovah's Witness. When it comes to children there is not a hospital around, worth it's salt, that won't take control and save a child's life in the face of parent protests. This is the same thing. We just need to get on with it. I am surprised at the negligence toward their children's health these educated people are showing.
Mandate it !
Save lives.
