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[Editor: ignore=off]Pessimist,
I was actually expecting you to note other bad news.
The fact that a few nut jobs want to associate the vaccine with promiscuity is something we as a society will easily overcome - just keep asking them why they are worried about 9-12 year olds having sex and who they think these girls and boys will have sex with and why they are so interested in having sex with children...
Also now is their chance - they should be out telling every current adolescent girl how she should abstain from sex until she has a chance to get this vaccine since once she gets the virus it's too late.
BTW, don't forget the vaccine should also be given to young boys - the same viruses can infect the anus of gay men, and since at age 9-12 we don't know who will turn out to be gay (or wind up in prison) we don't know who the high risk males are and all should be vaccinated. - even more justification for this below.
As for the bad news I thought it would have more to do with the over-hyping of the vaccine by the drug companies. The drug does not cure or prevent cancer - it prevents a set of STD's which are later associated with a large percentage of those who get this cancer. Yet in TV commercials the drug maker (who is jacking the price to run TV commercials because a second vaccine is in the pipeline and they want to make lots of $$$ off of those who will pay anything for even a slight reduction in cancer risk) claims that this vaccine prevents cancer.
As the link you included from Aidsmap.com mentions:
"Current screening methods appear effective at preventing cervical cancer," write Dr Mark Bower and Dr Justin Stebbing, "and most of the 10,000 cases of cervical cancer that occur yearly in the US are usually in individuals who have 'dropped out' of the screening programme. Thus, the usefulness of this vaccine is questionable."
Don't get me wrong this vaccine is great but it's not a panacea more importantly back on the good news side however is:
However, for HIV-negative individuals, since it is now thought that infection with HPV at least doubles the risk of acquiring HIV, a preventative HPV vaccine may have some benefits for HIV prevention.
So as I stated this vaccine shouldn't just be marketed to women, shouldn't be marked as a cancer cure or prevention (it prevents the STD HPV), and should be given to children without the need to discuss it's sexual implications.
Note I'm not being sarcastic, I've been reading up on this vaccine for a while and look forward to some of teh other 50 or so vaccines for this same scenario reaching the market and reducing the costs through competition - the FDA needs to approve additional versions so the price will drop just as it did with other drugs once competition hits.
Oh btw, did you note the timeframe on this vaccine - 15 years - think about how long AIDS research has been getting massive funding and with regard to this vaccine...
Posted by OutsideTheEchoChamber at June 12, 2006 09:37 PMOne last item on this... note that it's been approved for as young as 9 years old - it should be given at that age or earlier so that if some sick bastard gets his hands on a child it will physically protect that child from one more side effect of abuse.
It's really a no brainer - regardless of the cancer hype.
Posted by OutsideTheEchoChamber at June 12, 2006 09:52 PMDidn't read the whole post, but there has been talk of whether or not this vaccine should be mandatory for school attendance. While my husband and I have already discussed getting our daugther vaccinated some time in her early teens, I don't think it should be madatory in school for the simple reason that HPV is not an airborn or easily spread virus.
Posted by CG at June 13, 2006 06:41 AMOTEC, I was thinking the same thing: there is no need to tell the child it's a sex related disease. It's just those sick bastard SCC (socalledchristians) who need to harp on sex all the time who want to focus on that.
The child abuse aspect I DIDN't think of. That should shut the SCC up---but it won't. Self-righteous bastards.
Tis a pity you've succumbed to a putrefying disease of the soul and despise the only cure.
Exactly. No one is bowing down to you and your Messianic complex. You are the problem, not the solution. When we scrub the earth of people like you things will be much better. Next time you get pneumonia, please don't take antibiotics. Remember, god wanted you to have pneumonia for a reason.
Posted by phidipides at June 13, 2006 08:45 AM'Tis a pity God made you a shit eating coward Bendito. I recommend further acts of mortification such as letting Rush be "the girl" for a while.
Posted by jondee at June 13, 2006 02:52 PM