Religious right bides its time on cervical cancer vaccine

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Religious right bides its time on cervical cancer vaccine

Background. Within the next few months a highly effective vaccine against cervical cancer is expected to be licensed and available. Cervical cancer is caused by a virus widely transmitted through sexual contact, the human papillomavirus or HPV. If untreated, this cancer can kill. It claims a quarter of a million lives annually worldwide and, the American Cancer Society estimates, will take 3,700 lives in the US this year.

Women are most susceptible to HPV about 18 months after becoming sexually active. Medical experts have recommended that, for maximum protection, it is best to give the vaccine between the ages of 10 and 12. Experts are recommending that states require immunization as a condition of school attendance.

After a small show of opposition to the HPV vaccine as encouraging promiscuity last winter by a few conservative Christian groups, the religious right has gone silent. Several of the publications we've listed below suggest that, rather than trying to block the vaccine at the licensing stage, as they did with Plan B, the "morning-after" contraceptive, Christocrats will try to block states from mandating the vaccine for school-age girls.

If the vaccine is not mandatory, it is likely that many girls -- especially those from poor families -- will not get it.

The Public Health Promise and Potential Pitfalls of the World's First Cervical Cancer Vaccine

By Cynthia Dailard, Guttmacher Policy Review, Winter 2006, Volume 9, Number 1

"After a decade in development, a cervical cancer vaccine appears poised to become available to American women later this year. Given the vaccine’s demonstrated high level of effectiveness in preventing transmission of the two strains of human papillomavirus (HPV) responsible for most cases of cervical cancer, researchers believe that widespread vaccination has the potential to reduce cervical cancer deaths around the world by as much as two-thirds. The vaccine, therefore, holds the promise of being an enormous public health advance, both for women in the United States and for women in developing countries, who disproportionately bear the global burden of cervical cancer.

"While the typical American female has intercourse for the first time at age 17, 13% do so prior to age 15, according to the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth. Because HPV infection is so widespread, most cases of HPV are acquired soon after women become sexually active, with the peak incidence currently occurring at age 19. Merck’s trials, moreover, found that the vaccine produced a stronger immunological response in adolescents aged 10–15 than in women aged 16–23. For these reasons, both Merck and GlaxoSmithKline are recommending that all girls receive their vaccines when they are 10–12 years old." Click here to read the article.

Alternatively, click here for a news release with a link to the article.

The Potential of Human Papillomavirus Vaccines

Robert Steinbrook, M.D., New England Journal of Medicine, March 16, 2006

"The anticipated licensure within the next three months of a vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV) would represent a major public health advance against cervical cancer and other, less common cancers, including those of the anus, penis, vagina, and vulva. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is conducting a six-month priority review of Merck's investigational HPV vaccine and should announce its licensing decision by June 8. Questions remain, however, about the potential behavioral consequences of routinely vaccinating adolescents against a sexually acquired infection, and the public reaction is uncertain." Click here

Conservative Christians and HPV

Blind Faith

By Steven Groopman, The New Republic, March 10, 2006

"Instead of campaigning aggressively against the vaccine, Christian groups have adopted a subtler rhetorical strategy: saying simply that they favor "choice"--that is, allowing parents to decide whether the vaccine or abstinence is right for their children. This strategy is no less pernicious for being polite. And it could go a long way towards undermining the vaccine's potential benefits." Click here to read the report

According to a March 9 report in Forbes, the two companies holding patents to the vaccine anticipate a multibillion-dollar worldwide market for them.

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