Non-food Things
Lawmakers ask Perry to rescind vaccine order
By Ben Wasserman - foodconsumer.org
Feb 5, 2007 - 5:18:06 PM

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Friday, Texas governor Rick Perry issued an executive order to mandate vaccination for girls against human papillomavirus (HPV), which is responsible for the majority of cervical cancer cases.

Earlier, news media predicted that it's hard for Texas to pass any bill to require that all young girls receive the so called anti-cervical cancer or HPV vaccine as the state is considered conservative.   Mr. Perry himself is a conservative Christian, according to news reports.

Mr. Perry's order came as a surprise to many people as the state lawmakers did not have a chance to debate on the issue.   Many people don't understand why Perry should be in such a hurry to force the compulsory inoculation of the Merck's HVP vaccine in young girls in the state, which many conservative parents strongly feel against.

Today, state sen. Jane Nelson, Chairperson of the Senate's Health and Human Service Committee, said, cited by Houston Chronicle, that lawmakers should have been given an a chance to hear what the doctors, scientists and parents have to say about the HPV vaccine before the state implemented such a statewide mandate.   She was quoted as saying: "This is not an emergency" and "it needs to be discussed and debated."

Nelson, a Perry' close political ally, was not alone.     State Reps. Jim Keffer and Dan Flynn were cited as saying that their phone lines were jammed by phone calls from parents who complained about Perry's order.   All these noted state regulators are republican, so is Perry.

One of Perry's arguments is that this HPV vaccine saves medical cost for treatment of cervical cancer.   However, foodconsumer.org calculated and found that to vaccinate all eligible girls would cost at least 126 million dollars a year in Texas while the treatment may cost no more than 8 million dollars a year.

Perry also likens HPV infection to polio, saying that it’s better to use the HPV vaccine to eradiate the HPV/cervical cancer.  But HPV is nothing like polio.  One gets HPV because he chooses to have sex with someone who happens to have HPV. But in the case of HPV, one can get infected involuntarily.   Because of this, critics say a compulsory vaccination against HPV and cervical cancer is not justified.

Conservatives and rights groups are concerned that this mandatory innoculation of HPV vaccine could encourage girls to engage in premarital sex and interfere with the parents' rights to making medical choices for their girls. The order allows concerned parents to opt out of the requirement, but critics say that still interferes with their rights to making medical decisions for their girls.

A hidden risk from use of the HPV vaccine is that girls and women may have a misconception that they are protected by the vaccine, which may prompt them not to use protection for sex and subject them to a high risk of other sexually transmitted diseases.

Short term trials indicated that women who received the HPV vaccine experienced a reduced risk of precancerous lesions, not cervical cancer itself, according to Bill Sardi, a health journalist who has done tremendous amounts of work investigating many health issues that have not been well exposed in the mainstream media.   This means that the long term efficacy and safety of this HPV vaccine remains unknown.

HPV can be largely avoided by adjusting your lifestyle, according to Josef Mercola, a physician who promotes natural health , who called Merck's HPV vaccine worthless.  For instance, one can exercise abstinence  to avoid contracting HPV.

If abstinence is too hard to do, using condom can also significantly reduce risk of contracting cervical cancer –causing HPV. Earlier studies have found that the protection from condoms is significant although the efficacy varies from one study to another.   Regardless of its effectiveness, one would better use it anyway as it can help prevent other diseases.   

In addition, one can use nutrition supplements such as vitamin C, antioxidants and folic acid to strengthen their immune system, which may help avoid or eliminate HPV, early studies show.

Another way to prevent cervical cancer without using this HPV vaccine is to do pap smears periodically.  The current screening of HPV/cervical cancer for women can reduce the risk of cervical cancer death by 80 percent, according to Angela E Raffle who published her correspondence in The Lancet 2007; 369:367-368 to oppose the compulsory inoculation of HPV vaccine.  Raffle, affiliated with Public Health Network, King Square House, King Square, Bristol BS2 8EE, UK, said this HPV vaccine offers little gain if any.   In comparison, Merck's HPV vaccine is believed to prevent 70 percent of cervical cancer cases!

The HPV vaccine could not replace pap smears. Those who have received the vaccine should continue their periodic pap smears testing.

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