Mo. Senate Approves Bill To Pay For HPV Information, Vaccination For Sixth Graders
March 13, 2008
The Missouri Senate last week passed a bill (SB 778) that would send parents of sixth-grade girls in public schools information about the connection between HPV and cervical cancer and the availability of the HPV immunization, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Jolie Justus (D), also would allow the state to provide Gardasil, the only cervical cancer vaccine approved in the U.S., at no cost to girls who are uninsured and are not covered by CDC’s Vaccines for Children Program. The measure would cost the state about $2.3 million to pay for an estimated 6,000 girls to be vaccinated, according to state health officials (Logan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 3/7).
The law would not require girls to be vaccinated, although parents would be asked to voluntarily provide a written statement to the state Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services indicating that they have received the information and that the student has received the immunization or the parents have decided not to have the student immunized (SB 778 text, 3/12).
Gardasil in clinical trials has been shown to prevent infection with HPV strains 16 and 18, which together cause about 70% of cervical cancer cases, and to prevent infection with HPV strains 6 and 11, which cause about 90% of genital warts cases (Daily Women’s Health Policy Report, 2/7). Some opponents of the bill have questioned Gardasil’s safety and effectiveness, while other opponents have said that the vaccine will promote sexual promiscuity.
Justus said the vaccine has been given to more than 12,000 girls since it received FDA approval. She added that she worked on the bill with the Missouri Catholic Conference and the Missouri Family Network. Larry Weber, director of the Catholic Conference, said the group supports the measure because the program is not mandatory. The bill now heads to the state House, where a similar measure was defeated last year (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 3/7).
Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women’s Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women’s Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.
© 2007 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.
Third Wave’s HPV Clinical Trial Achieves Primary Clinical Endpoints
March 13, 2008
Third Wave Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: TWTI) announced that the company achieved all primary clinical endpoints in the clinical trial for its human papillomavirus (HPV) tests. The company expects to submit the trial results to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for both its high-risk and 16/18 genotyping products in April.
Third Wave’s 14-type high-risk HPV test demonstrated a negative predictive value greater than the study’s 99% goal. Negative predictive value is the probability that there is no cervical disease in a patient with atypical or ASCUS Pap test results and negative HPV test results.
The company’s proprietary high-risk HPV test is intended to be used in combination with a Pap test to assess women 30 and over for the presence of high-risk HPV types and to guide their treatment. It is also intended to test patients with abnormal Pap results to determine whether they should be referred to colposcopy.
Third Wave believes that its high-risk HPV test demonstrated performance in the clinical trial that met the key performance criteria established by the ALTS clinical trial, the foundational HPV screening study sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. The company also achieved the primary clinical endpoints for its HPV genotyping test. This test detects the presence of HPV types 16 and 18, the types that cause approximately 70% of cervical disease.
Third Wave initiated its HPV clinical trial two years ago, in early 2007. The company screened more than 50,000 subjects and enrolled over 3,400 subjects from 47 sites, including more than 1,300 women with ASCUS Pap test results. In April, Third Wave will make submissions based on these data to the FDA for both its high-risk and 16/18 genotyping products. The company expects to share publicly the clinical trial data shortly after making those FDA submissions. Third Wave believes that an HPV clinical trial is a highly complex undertaking with significant risks both before and after submission to the FDA.
“We are very pleased with the robust performance demonstrated by both of our HPV tests in the clinical trial,” said Kevin T. Conroy, president and chief executive of Third Wave. “Our clinical trial results validate the company’s significant investment in our HPV program, an investment responsive to the many clinical laboratories and thought leaders who have voiced the need for an alternative to the current test on the market. The clinical utility of HPV testing is well documented and we look for the market to continue to grow and further penetrate clinical practice in the United States and internationally. Third Wave’s participation in this large, rapidly-growing market extends the company’s position as a leader in clinical molecular diagnostics.”
About the HPV Testing Market
The global market for HPV testing is projected to be $250 million in 2008 and the total available market is $1 billion. There are more than 10 million HPV tests being performed in the United States annually with only 28% market penetration. The U.S. market is approximately $200 million annually and has grown in excess of 40% for each of the last five years. The company expects market growth to continue in excess of 25% in the near term.
vThe HPV testing market in the EU is just emerging, as studies are underway evaluating the use of HPV tests as a primary screen for cervical cancer in women, replacing Pap testing.
About Third Wave Technologies
Third Wave develops and markets molecular diagnostic reagents for a variety of DNA and RNA analysis applications to meet the needs of our customers. The company offers a number of products based on its Invader® chemistry for clinical testing. Third Wave offers in vitro diagnostic kits, and analyte specific, general purpose, and research use only reagents for nucleic acid analysis. For more information about Third Wave and its products, please visit the company’s website at http://www.twt.com.
All statements in this news release that are not historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended. Such forward-looking statements are subject to factors that could cause actual results to differ materially for Third Wave from those projected. Those factors include risks and uncertainties relating to the company’s ability to bring new products to market as anticipated, the current regulatory environment in which the company sells its products, the market acceptance of those products, dependence on partners and customers, successful performance under collaborative and commercial agreements, competition, the strength of the Third Wave intellectual property, the intellectual property of others and other risk factors identified in the documents Third Wave has filed, or will file, with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Copies of the Third Wave filings with the SEC may be obtained from the SEC Internet site at http://www.sec.gov. Third Wave expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward- looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in Third Wave’s expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statements are based. Third Wave Technologies, Invader and the Third Wave logo are trademarks of Third Wave Technologies, Inc.
Third Wave Technologies
GSK HPV Vaccine Cervarix Effective For More Than Six Years, Company Says
March 12, 2008
GlaxoSmithKline’s human papillomavirus vaccine Cervarix provides significant protection against the four most common cancer-causing HPV strains for 6.4 years, according to data from a follow-up study, Reuters reports. The company presented the new data at the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists’ annual meeting in Tampa, Fla. (Hirschler, Reuters, 3/10).
GSK reported that nearly all of the 776 women and girls ages 15 to 25 enrolled in the study had significant levels of antibodies against HPV strains 16 and 18 more than six years after receiving the vaccine. Cervarix was nearly 100% effective in preventing cancerous lesions caused by strains 16 and 18, according to the study. In addition, the vaccine was 78% effective in preventing infection of HPV strain 45 and 60% effective in preventing infection of HPV strain 31. The four HPV strains cause about 80% of cervical cancer cases. The company said that no significant health risks were connected with the vaccine.
Cervarix has been approved for sale in 55 countries, including nations in the European Union, the AP/CNNMoney.com reports (AP/CNNMoney.com, 3/10). The company said it plans to update FDA on Cervarix during the second quarter of 2008 (Reuters, 3/10). GSK added that it believes Cervarix will reach the U.S. market this year (AP/CNNMoney.com, 3/10).
Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women’s Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women’s Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.
© 2007 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.
GARDASIL Will Spare Thousands A Diagnosis Of Cell Abnormality That May Lead To More Tests And Possibly Surgery
March 11, 2008
A significant drop in abnormal Pap test results happened after girls and women were given a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, according to a researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).
The findings show the vaccine, named GARDASIL, appears to prevent the development of cell changes that lead to cervical disease, the researcher said.
In testing GARDASIL reduced abnormal Pap test results by 43 percent compared to women not given the vaccine. The 43 percent reduction was for tests that found pre-cancerous changes called high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL) more than three years after women were given the vaccine.
GARDASIL reduced other abnormal Pap results, including milder pre-malignant cell changes, by 16 to 35 percent compared to women not given the vaccine.
While the findings are not definitive that GARDASIL prevents cancer, they do signal the vaccine will spare thousands of women a diagnosis of cell abnormality or malignant changes that may lead to more tests and possibly surgery, said Warner Huh, M.D., associate professor in the UAB Division of Gynecologic Oncology and the doctor chosen to present the data.
“Clearly the vaccine’s benefits include something that can be appreciated by women and daughters fairly quickly,” Huh said. “This is a positive first sign, and it will take many more years to know definitively if the vaccine prevents cancer.”
The findings were presented March 10 at the annual meeting of the Society of Gynecological Oncologists held in Tampa.
The results are a compilation of three separate trials involving more than 18,000 women, ages 16 to 26, in the United States, Europe and Asia. All test subjects had normal Pap smear readings at the start of the trial.
In addition to the drop in unwanted Pap results, the study found invasive procedures like cervical biopsies were performed up to 42 percent less in GARDASIL recipients compared to women not given the vaccine, Huh said.
GARDASIL is approved to fight the human papilloma virus (HPV) strains believed to cause 70 percent of cervical cancers and more than 90 percent of genital warts.
For many unvaccinated women HPV infections clear up naturally without causing any cervical problems, as do many pre-malignant lesions. In other cases, HPV prompts cell changes that can gradually put women at greater risk of cervical cancer.
Nearly 25 million U.S. women between the ages of 14 and 59 are infected with HPV, and the annual cost of screening and treating cervical abnormalities is about $4 billion, according to a statement from the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists. “Dr. Huh’s study concludes that the trials covered in this paper indicate an overall benefit of vaccination,” the society’s statement said.
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Source: Troy Goodman
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Miami Group Works To Address High Cervical Cancer Rate Among Haitian-American Women
March 10, 2008
A group called Haitian Women of Miami is working to lower the rate of cervical cancer among Florida’s Haitian-American population. Haitian-American women are three times more likely than other women to develop cervical cancer, according to the Florida Cancer Data System, the Miami Herald reports.
According to the Herald, Haitian-American women often receive health services from nontraditional healers and have other obstacles to health services, including cultural and language barriers, a lack of health insurance and a lack of access to transportation.
In addition, many Haitian women are scared to access health services “because they’re undocumented,” Marleine Bastien of Haitian Women of Miami said. She added, “I have to tell them, no human being is illegal. Don’t die in silence”
Three times a month, the group provides no-cost preventive care through a medical van funded by Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Public Health Trust. The group also produces a weekly radio program and a television program about health issues in the community.
On March 7, the group hosted a conference at Florida International University-Biscayne Bay titled “Women and Reproductive Health: Breaking Barriers and Building Coalitions.” The conference will examine the barriers immigrant women face in accessing health care, how immigration policies affect women’s reproductive health and environmental factors associated with reproductive health (Beras, Miami Herald, 3/7).
Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2007 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
Call For Equal Access To Cervical Cancer Treatment For All Women And Girls
March 8, 2008
A comprehensive prevention strategy for reducing the threat of cervical cancer has been called for by the World Medical Association and the Medical Women’s International Association.
In a joint statement to mark international women’s day tomorrow, the two organisations demand action for women and girls around the world to have equal access to the highest quality prevention and treatment options for cervical cancer and say that such a strategy should include screening and vaccination.
Dr. Shelley Ross, Secretary-General of the Medical Women’s International Association, said: ‘Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women. But it is now preventable due to the availability of a vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV)’.
She said that every year cervical cancer affected 500,000 women and took the lives of a quarter million women worldwide. Women in poor countries were the most affected, with 80 per cent of the deaths from cervical cancer due to extremely limited screening and treatment availability.
Dr. Ross added: ‘When reflecting back on major advances in women’s health in years to come, HPV vaccine will be listed as one of the major breakthroughs. It is urgent that governments across the world start prioritizing cervical cancer with sustainable political and financial commitments. Not doing so means losing lives. It means also not granting to women and girls in poor countries the right to equal access to life-saving technologies’.
Four of the common types of HPV could be prevented through vaccination although there was currently no treatment available which could cure an HPV infection. HPV vaccine therefore had the potential to substantially reduce the prevalence of cervical cancer, although not to eradicate it.
Dr. Jon Snaedal, President of the WMA, said ‘Medical associations have a key role to play in this strategy in making information on HPV vaccine available to physicians and to encourage physicians to alert their patients on this innovation’.
‘Cost must not be a barrier to making the vaccine available to women and girls worldwide. We are calling for a strong mobilisation of decision-makers, international organisations, international donor community and development partners, as well as medical associations, civil society and industry to act now for a change, to stop cervical cancer’.
The World Medical Association is the independent confederation of national medical associations from more than 80 countries and represents more than eight million physicians. Acting on behalf of patients and physicians, the WMA endeavours to achieve the highest possible standards of medical care, ethics, education and health-related human rights for all people.
World Medical Association
Cervical Cancer/HPV Vaccine Awareness Up, But More Efforts Needed To Ensure Access And Availability
March 7, 2008
Cervical cancer remains a leading killer of women, however, thanks to a test for the human papillomavirus (HPV), the leading cause of cervical cancer, and the development of an HPV vaccine, tools exist to conquer this disease. Cervical cancer is in the public eye and tops public policy agendas, and education, outreach and prevention are at an all-time high. In the ‘Cancer: Caring and Conquering’ column in the February 2008 issue of MEDSURG Nursing, Sarah F. Wells provides an overview of cervical cancer risk factors, screening tools, prevention efforts and public policy goals.
Wells, associate director of Women in Government, an organization of female state legislators providing leadership, networking and education resources for public policy issues, says most states are making efforts to prevent cervical cancer and promote vaccination. Positive steps are being made, however, the number of uninsured women without access continues to rise.
According to Wells, Women in Government recommends the following awareness and prevention efforts in 2008:
– State departments of health should develop and implement plans to ensure girls and women have access to and receive cervical cancer screening and the HPV vaccine.
– States should consider adding the HPV vaccine to the list of required vaccines to enter middle school.
– States should encourage insurance providers to cover cervical cancer screening and the HPV vaccine.
– States should act so uninsured and underinsured women have access to cervical cancer/HPV vaccination and screening.
The ‘Cancer: Conquering and Caring’ column is made possible through an educational grant from C-Change (http://www.c-changetogether.org).
“Cervical Cancer: An Overview with Suggested Practice and Policy Goals”
Sarah F. Wells, MA
MEDSURG Nursing - February 2008; http://www.medsurgnursing.net
MEDSURG Nursing, The Journal of Adult Health, is the official journal of the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses (AMSN). The journal provides its readers with the multidisciplinary information they need to provide clinically excellent patient care and to enhance their nursing practice. MEDSURG Nursing supports adult health/medical-surgical nurses as they strive for excellence in patient care, private practice, and outpatient health care settings in urban, suburban, and rural locations. Each peer-reviewed issue of MEDSURG Nursing features a comprehensive discussion and description of today’s clinical issues in adult health/medical-surgical nursing. MEDSURG Nursing and AMSN are committed to the advancement of adult health/medical-surgical nursing practice. The journal is published six times a year.
http://www.medsurgnursing.net
New Findings Support Alternatives To Pap Test
March 6, 2008
The Alliance for Cervical Cancer Prevention (ACCP), a partnership of five international public health research organizations, announced key findings and recommendations resulting from eight years of studies in more than 20 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. At the top of the list: early identification of precancer using simple, visual inspections of women is as effective, and in some cases more effective, than technically difficult and expensive Pap testing.
Cervical cancer, caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), affects about 500,000 women each year and kills 270,000 annually. There is a huge discrepancy between cervical cancer deaths in rich and poor nations — 80 to 85 percent of deaths occur in the developing world. In developed countries, screening programs using the Pap smear are in place to spot disease and treat it early, saving countless lives. However, a successful Pap testing program requires a high degree of organization, sophisticated laboratory equipment, and highly trained technicians. Unfortunately, in spite of efforts by many governments, large-scale Pap screening programs have not worked in poorer regions. It was frustration with this lack of success that mobilized ACCP efforts to find alternative approaches to Pap testing. Funding was provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
During a panel presentation at the Goethe-Institut in Washington, DC, Dr. Jacqueline Sherris of PATH, an ACCP founder, noted that “cervical cancer represents a huge global inequity with a heavy burden on poor women. It is an awful disease that shatters families by taking women at the peak of their productive lives, when they are in their 40s and 50s. Often, and especially in communities with large numbers of AIDS orphans, these grandmothers and aunts play a crucial role in raising children and maintaining social cohesion.”
Dr. R. Sankaranarayanan, of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, has studied alternatives to Pap smear screening in India and other countries. He explained that cervical cancer is easy to treat if precancerous signs are detected early. Treatment in low-resource settings often can be done using a device that destroys the affected tissue by freezing, the same way that common warts are frozen.
For the visual screening methods tested by the ACCP, a trained health worker swabs the patient’s cervix with vinegar (a painless procedure). After one minute, any small lesions on the cervix — signs of potential future cancer — can be seen with the naked eye. “In most cases it is possible to treat the women for precancer during the same visit to the clinic,” says Dr. Harshad Sanghvi of JHPIEGO, another ACCP partner. “This is important because if a woman is sent home the day of the exam, and asked to come back days or weeks later to hear the results and be treated, she may not be able to return. In the past many women have missed the care they needed for this reason. Treatment in the late stages of cervical cancer — when women suffer symptoms — is difficult and often not successful. We need to screen all women, beginning at age 30, and provide rapid treatment to those who need it.”
“New technologies for cervical cancer prevention are revolutionizing public health,” according to Silvana Luciani of the Pan American Health Organization. “Visual screening methods, high-tech DNA tests for HPV, and the new HPV vaccines represent incredible opportunities to strengthen prevention. We need to protect girls from HPV infection with vaccine, but immunization is not a substitute for screening. Screening programs are needed to care for women who may have already been infected with HPV, because the vaccine does not protect them effectively and there are cancer-causing types of HPV not targeted by the vaccine. Research indicates that a combination of vaccination and screening can dramatically reduce cervical cancer deaths in the coming decades.”
In her closing remarks, Dr. Sherris challenged US and European donors and policymakers to take a leadership role in improving cervical cancer screening, and HPV vaccination, worldwide. “Every woman has the right to screening at least once in her lifetime, and girls have the right to HPV vaccination. This is our goal, and it is achievable.”
The ACCP partners are EngenderHealth, JHPIEGO, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the Pan American Health Organization, and PATH.
Alliance for Cervical Cancer Prevention
In 1999, five international health organizations (EngenderHealth, JHPIEGO, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the Pan American Health Organization, and PATH) came together to create the Alliance for Cervical Cancer Prevention (ACCP). They were determined to find effective methods that health care workers in the developing world could use to identify cervical cancer early on, when it can be successfully treated in relatively simple and inexpensive ways. Over the past eight years, and with generous support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the ACCP partners have been assessing a variety of approaches to cervical cancer screening and treatment, improving service delivery systems, ensuring that community perspectives and needs are incorporated into program design, and raising awareness about cervical cancer and effective prevention strategies.
PATH/ACCP
http://www.alliance-cxca.org
Actions Taken On Women’s Health-Related Legislation In Mo., Neb., Tenn.
March 1, 2008
The following highlights recent state news about women’s health-related legislation.
- Missouri: The Senate preliminarily approved a bill (SB 778) Tuesday that would require parents of girls entering the sixth grade be sent information on how HPV is transmitted, the virus’ symptoms and its link to cervical cancer, as well as require parents to tell the state whether their daughters have received the immunization, the AP/Belleville News Democrat reports. This would allow the state to track HPV vaccination rates. The bill also provides payment for the vaccinations if families cannot afford it. According to the AP/News Democrat, the measure would cost an estimated $2.3 million, but one Republican leader estimated the cost would be higher (Blank, AP/Belleville News Democrat, 2/26).
- Nebraska: The Legislature on Tuesday gave first-round approval to a bill (LB 606) that would bar the use of state funds or facilities for creating or destroying human embryos for the purposes of research, the AP/Sioux City Journal reports. The measure allows researchers to use existing embryonic stem cell lines but prohibits the use of state funding to conduct research that uses somatic cell nuclear transfer, which the bill defines as “a technique in which the nucleus of an oocyte is replaced with the nucleus of a somatic cell.” Lawmakers assured officials at the University of Nebraska Medical Center that further restrictions on stem cell research in the state are not expected to pass in the near future. University officials endorsed the measure but said it is not perfect, the AP/Journal reports. If approved, the bill would establish an advisory committee comprising deans from medical schools in the state and two scientists from outside the state that would award matching grants of up to $500,000 for nonembryonic stem cell research (AP/Sioux City Journal, 2/26).
- Tennessee: A House subcommittee on Tuesday voted 6-3 to reject a resolution (SJR 127) that would amend the state constitution to say that “nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion,” the AP/Murfreesboro Daily News Journal reports (AP/Murfreesboro Daily News Journal, 2/26). The resolution, which was approved by the Senate earlier this month, is in part a response to a 2000 state Supreme Court decision that struck down some state restrictions on abortion, including a 48-hour waiting period, a requirement that women receive detailed information about the procedure and a requirement that all abortions after the first trimester be performed at a hospital (Daily Women’s Health Policy Report, 2/4). Democratic lawmakers said the proposed resolution is a partisan issue that often comes up in election years. Rep. Dolores Gresham (R), who is sponsoring the House version of the measure, vowed to find another route to bring the measure to the full House. The Senate approved the proposal earlier this year, but any attempts to bring the measure before the full House had been expected to fail as in the past, the Tennessean reports (Emery, Tennessean, 2/27).
© 2007 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.
New York Times Examines Providing HPV Vaccine To Boys In Effort To Reduce Cervical Cancer Rates
February 26, 2008
The New York Times on Sunday examined the possibility of providing human papillomavirus vaccines to boys in an effort to reduce cervical cancer rates. According to the Times, Merck will submit data to FDA this year seeking approval for its HPV vaccine Gardasil to be administered to boys. Gardasil is already approved for boys in Australia, Mexico and the European Union (Hoffman, New York Times, 2/24).
Gardasil in clinical trials has been shown to be 100% effective in preventing infection with HPV strains 16 and 18, which together cause about 70% of cervical cancer cases, and about 99% effective in preventing HPV strains 6 and 11, which cause about 90% of genital warts cases. GlaxoSmithKline’s HPV vaccine Cervarix also has been shown to be 100% effective in preventing infection with HPV strains 16 and 18 (Daily Women’s Health Policy Report, 1/16). Cervarix, which has not shown protection against genital warts, is currently under review by FDA and is being studied in boys in Finland to determine whether vaccinating boys could help eradicate cervical cancer.
According to the Times, Gardasil likely would be marketed to boys and their parents as a way to prevent genital warts and as an altruistic way to prevent cervical cancer by preventing the transmission of the virus to girls. In addition, the vaccines could be found to provide other benefits for males because HPV also causes anal, penile, and head and neck cancers, the Times reports.
Richard Haupt, Merck’s executive director of clinical research, said that Gardasil has a “very clear benefit” for boys and men in preventing genital warts, even if boys or their parents do not feel “an altruistic reason to get the vaccine.” Susan Rosenthal, a specialist in adolescent psychology at the University of Texas-Galveston and a Merck adviser, said that although genital warts are not “life-threatening,” they are “very stressful.” She added that “[p]sychologically,” genital warts are “not an insignificant infection.”
Some reports have found that U.S. parents support the idea of making HPV vaccines available to both boys and girls. However, studies have not determined whether parents would consider the vaccine for their own sons. According to the Times, some parents “automatically dismiss” vaccinating their sons with Gardasil in part because of a “suspicion” of new vaccines and pharmaceutical companies. Baruch Fischhoff, a professor of decision sciences at Carnegie Mellon University, said older boys might see benefits in receiving the vaccine because they could tell a potential partner they have been vaccinated and would seem like “less of a risk” and “more of a humanitarian” (New York Times, 2/24).
Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women’s Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women’s Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.
© 2007 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.
