HPV vaccination plan should be halted, reviewed: researcher

[CBC News]

The federal government's plan for a $300-million immunization campaign to prevent HPV, a virus that causes cervical cancer, should be halted until further study can be done, says a Canadian researcher.

A course of the vaccine Gardasil, developed by Merck Frosst Canada Ltd., costs $404.
(Associated Press) ​

"What's the rush? Why can't we get the information that we need first?" Abby Lippman, a professor in the department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health at McGill University in Montreal, told CBC News.
Ontario plans to offer free HPV vaccinations to close to 85,000 teenaged girls in Ontario this fall. Ontario's $39-million program is part of the federal government's $300 million in funding for HPV vaccinations announced this spring.
Lippman said she's not sure why the government is pushing ahead with a costly vaccination program when scientific evidence of the vaccine's efficiency and safety is lacking.
Women, she said, will also still have to use safe-sex practices, and get annual Pap smears that detect abnormal cervical cells that could signal cancer.
Full Story
What do you think? Should the government be moving ahead with an immunization campaign to prevent HPV?




More...

 

[William Ashley]

I think immunizations should be voluntary. I think that Immunizations should be covered by Medicare though, and people should have the choice to subscribe to the program.

I think the government should own and produce those immunizations as well. Much like I think the government should hold patents on all drugs after 3 years. or hold the right to in an emergency exppropriate the rights to use any given medication.

HPV can be life threatening so it should be treated seriously - but not forced.

Medicine should be public domain.

 

[TenPenny]

The literature I have read suggests that it's the right thing to do, and ALL of the female GPs that I know are planning to immunize their daughters.

It's a relatively simple thing to do to prevent a buch of cases of cervical cancer, but there's always a bunch of people who don't want it to happen.

To William Ashley - based on how badly the Provinces run their systems, I think the LESS gov't involvement we have in health, the better. I'm a firm believer in medicare, but it's so poorly run that it's criminal.