A bill that would require pre-teenaged girls in California to become vaccinated against the human papilloma virus has controversy brewing between advocates of the vaccine and those who are concerned that parents should have more say and that the vaccine will promote promiscuity.
The bill, which was introduced in December and amended last week, would require girls in both public and private schools to have the vaccine before entering the seventh grade.
Gardasil, released last June, is a vaccine that prevents the four strains of HPV that cause 70 percent of cervical cancers and 90 percent of genital warts, according to Reuters Health Administration.
“This (bill) is about preventing cancer, and saving lives, so I believe it vital to make the vaccine as accessible as possible,” Assemblyman Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina, the lead author of the bill, said in a statement.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry recently signed a similar bill mandating that girls between the ages of 11 and 12 get the vaccine before entering the sixth grade and also making it available to all females between the ages of 9 and 21.
Gardasil costs $120 per dose and requires three doses in a six-month window.
The vaccine is covered by some major insurance companies, and Medi-Cal will cover the shots for women between 19 and 26. The Vaccines for Children’s program also provides the vaccine for free to girls as young as 9 years old, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, D-Mountain View, was the primary writer of the proposed California bill, but Hernandez took over as carrier of the bill after Lieber dropped her sponsorship. She did so citing a conflict of interest because her husband’s family has $14,000 invested in Merck and Co., which manufactures Gardasil, according to The Times.
The National Cervical Cancer Coalition reports that there are 370,000 identified cases of cervical cancer annually.
While Gardasil has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration and has the support of the American Cancer Society, the proposed bill has some conservatives and parents’ rights groups up in arms.
Some parents and religious groups have been raising objections to mandatory vaccination, including that the bill will violate their right to raise their children in the manner in which they choose, that it encourages pre-marital sex, and that the vaccine is too new to mandate.
Robert Schilling, a professor at the UCLA School of Public Affairs, said he believes Gardasil is an important breakthrough.
“Most public health advocates would say that it should be treated as any other vaccine,” he said. “It is not very often that a vaccine with such potential for preventing disease comes up. This is very important.”
Cathie Adams, president of the conservative-watchdog group Texas Eagle Forum, said she believes parents should be the ones to decide whether children get the vaccine.
“What (mandatory vaccination) does is benefit the pharmaceutical companies, and I don’t want pharmaceutical companies taking precedence over the authorities of parents,” she told The Associated Press.
Merck’s revenue from Gardasil is expected to reach $1 billion per year if states start requiring the vaccine, drug-industry analyst Steve Brozak told The Associated Press.
But Hernandez noted in his statement that $1.7 billion is spent each year in the United States to treat cervical cancer.
Rose Ohanesian, a third-year history student, also said she believes getting the vaccine at a young age makes sense because of its long-term benefits.
“It is a lot like the vaccinations that we have to get as children,” she said. “I don’t see a difference. People are going to have sex anyway. If not when they are young, it will be when they are older. I think it is better to be safe then sorry.”
At least 18 states are now considering mandating the vaccine for school-aged girls.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has not taken a public position on the bill but has allotted $11.3 million toward HPV in his proposed budget for the 2007-2008 fiscal year, according to The Associated Press.