News & Politics - Sexual Health News: HPV vaccines for pre-teens and up; the Pill without prescription

elisheva · 01-31-2007, 07:07 PM

I thought both of these articles were pretty interesting and related enough to fit in one thread:

Quote:

Vaccinate all girls for cervical cancer, panel says

SHARON KIRKEY
CanWest News Service; AP contributed to this report

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Every 9- to 13-year-old girl should be vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer, a national panel is recommending.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization says females 14 to 26 should also be vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV), even if they are sexually active, because they may not yet have been infected.

Merck & Co.'s Gardasil was approved for use in July, but no province has agreed to pay for the shots, which are given in three doses and cost about $135 per injection.

In the United States last week, Virginia lawmakers endorsed legislation requiring girls be vaccinated for HPV before entering Grade 6. More than a dozen other states are considering similar bills.

Canada could see school-based HPV vaccination programs, says Dr. Shelley Deeks, executive secretary of the advisory group and senior medical specialist in immunizations and respiratory infections at the Public Health Agency of Canada.

"We've been very successful in Canada in our school-based programs. We can look at what happened with hepatitis B and how successful those programs were when considering the potential for HPV programs."

Studies suggest 10 to 29 per cent of women in Canada are infected with HPV, making it the most common sexually transmitted infection in Canada.

HPV causes almost all cervical cancers, killing about 290,000 women worldwide, including about 400 in Canada each year.

Gardasil protects against four subtypes that together account for 70 per cent of all cervical cancers and 90 per cent of genital warts. It has been shown to be more than 95 per cent effective.

Pap smears can catch pre-cancerous changes, but screening is spotty, depending on where women live. About 40 per cent of cervical cancers occur in women undergoing regular screening, every three years or more.

Even with the vaccine, until close to 100 per cent coverage can be achieved for all HPV types, Pap screening "will remain critically important," the panel says.

In the U.S., Merck is helping bankroll efforts to pass state laws requiring girls as young as 11 or 12 to receive the vaccine.

With at least 18 states debating whether to require Gardasil vaccination for schoolgirls, Merck has funnelled money through Women in Government, an advocacy group of female state legislators.
© Source: The Gazette (Montreal) 2007

This seems like a great idea

If a simple vaccination can possibly help prevent a type of cancer, why not?

Quote:

Agreement to ease access to the pill
Women will be able to get prescription for birth control without seeing a doctor

CHARLIE FIDELMAN
The Gazette

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Quebec's professional orders of physicians, nurses and pharmacists are to announce today they've completed an agreement that will give women faster and easier access to birth control.

Quebec women now can simply walk into a clinic or health centre and ask a nurse for a prescription for birth control without consulting a doctor first.

Women have been promised this health reform since 2003, when Bill 90 went into effect. Among other things, the law loosened regulations on prescriptions, but did not set out guidelines.

Now that nurses and pharmacists will be able to act on "collective" prescriptions written by physicians for certain medications - starting with birth control - women of childbearing age will be able to obtain the pill and other contraceptive methods on a same-day basis without seeing a physician or having a medical examination.

The prescription will be good for six months; after that, a patient must be referred to a doctor or the prescription will not be renewed.

Girls under age 14 will require parental approval to obtain a prescription for birth control.

The extra leeway given to nurses and pharmacists takes into account Quebec's doctor shortage and aims to curb unwanted births and abortions.

The reform was expected to kick in after the Quebec College of Physicians officially adopted guidelines in 2005.

Bill 90 aims to improve co-operation among the 11 professional orders in the health-care sector, including radiologists and other technicians and therapists.

The law expanded the definition of prescriptions to include "collective" prescriptions, which delegates to nurses and other health-care professionals the right to initiate and adjust treatment.

Quebec has the highest abortion rate among teens in Canada and ranks fourth-highest among provinces in teen pregnancies.
Source:
© The Gazette (Montreal) 2007

This one I'm a little conflicted about. First of all, this isn't what needs to be done to ease doctor shortages. It may free up their time, but it won't create more doctors - it'll just give more work to already busy-as-heck nurses. (Quebec has all sorts of policies that make it really unattractive for med students to stick around and practice here - they all run to Ontario or the States.) Second of all, while promoting easy access to birth control is something I 100% support, they'd better be making sure that the nurses are trained to identify which types of birth control are good for which women - there are so many different pills available and each one affects individual women differently, so you really do need to have a consultation with someone who knows the topic before you decide. But if nurses have that knowledge, and have the time to sit for ten minutes with each woman and discuss their birth control options, then great. (I know they can already dispense the morning-after pill here.)

What are the laws like in the States? I suppose it varies from state to state

Thoughts?

**sunnykerr** · 01-31-2007, 08:55 PM

If this means I can get my Pill "prescription" renewed without having to wait hours upon hours at the clinic because it seems impossible to get a family doctor in Montreal... then so much the better.

The HPV vaccine I fully support, too. I know it may seem awfully young. And I certainly don't think girls should be having any kind of sex at that age, but it's not like we always know when girls start having sex. And kids who have sex are notorious for not practising safe sex. So I say we operate on the safe side of things.

lizzie2000 · 01-31-2007, 11:58 PM

I can tell you as a college student the HPV vaccine is a good idea and a lot of college kids are getting it. It is very expensive though, you need to get three shots. I have done some research on HPV (thanks to a cosmo article) and essentially there are like 84 different types of HPV, however there are only 2-4 that actually cause cervical cancer, most girls who contract the other types of HPV actually either dont know they have it and it clears up on its own or they have it and take antibiotics that clears it up in about a week.

I definatly think it is a good idea. I also think that it is allowing more people to become educated about HPV because a lot of people didnt know too much about the STD before

Lexis · 02-01-2007, 05:15 AM

The vaccine sounds like a great idea. Anything that can help fight cancer is a good thing in my book.

And as for the pill - as long as those nurses are trained and know what they are doing, I don't see a problem with it either.

nopal · 02-01-2007, 06:43 PM

I am in total agreement with making it mandatory for pre-teen girls to have the HPV vaccine. They need to have the shot before they become sexually active in order for it to have the best results. And by making it mandatory, it forces the retards that believe that allowing their daughter to have the vaccine gives her a free pass to have sex....which is utter crap, considering they could just as well get HPV from a husband years down the road that has been less than faithful. It is always better to be safe than sorry.

I don't know much about the Canadian healthcare system, but I would really appreciate being able to walk in and get my BC filled without having to see a doctor right away. My husband is in the military, and it is a major ordeal for me to get an appointment of any kind. If I can't orchastrate everything just right so that I can go in for my yearly check-up at the right time, they hold my BC hostage until I can get there. It's a real pain.

lizzie2000 · 02-02-2007, 08:06 PM

I just read an article today that was saying that Texas is going to require or at least wants to require all teenagers (well girls that is) to get the HPV vaccine. I definately thought that was interesting.

I do believe that the idea of getting birth control without having to see a doctor can be a good idea if this person already has a prescription for it and just needs to get to renewed. I know as a college student it is a pain to try and get an appointment with my doctor (especially when i am out of state) and it would be easier whenever i am home if i could just go see a nurse and get more birth control.

elisheva · 02-03-2007, 05:17 PM

Apparently today the governor of Texas did sign a law which makes the vaccine mandatory for all schoolgirls. I think that's awesome.

Do you need to actually see a doctor for a renewal? That must be annoying - I was thinking more about getting the initial prescription, which I think requires some level of consultation.

nopal · 02-03-2007, 08:52 PM

Yeah, I have to go back once a year and get a prescription renewal for my BC. That way they can make sure that I have had my yearly Pap smear and check-up.

elisheva · 02-03-2007, 08:59 PM

I see - that certainly sounds like something that doesn;t necessarily need a doctor.

lizzie2000 · 02-03-2007, 11:43 PM

it can definately be unnecessary and a pain in the ass.

I am glad that all schoolgirls in Texas have to get the vaccine. It also seems like campus across the country, well at least mine are really educating girls on HPV and also the vaccine. THe only problem with the vaccine is that since there really arent any longevity studies no one is sure how it is going to affect people years from now

elisheva · 02-03-2007, 11:54 PM

It's also pretty expensive, apparently, something like $140 each for three shots.

migamoo · 02-04-2007, 12:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lizzie2000 (View Post)

THe only problem with the vaccine is that since there really arent any longevity studies no one is sure how it is going to affect people years from now

That's my main concern making it mandatory for young girls. Also, why isn't there a shot for young boys also? Most males who have HPV do not even realize it because the effects are different between male and female.

Indian Summer · 02-04-2007, 12:12 AM

Honestly, I think the boys v. girls thing comes down to a marketing campaign. HPV is a sexually transmitted disease, but when you can point out it causes cervical cancer, parents of young girls have a different angle to look at it from- it's not protecting their daughter from an STD, but from possibly developing cancer. Since boys don't have a cervix, the vaccine is clearly against something sexual, and there's a lot of parents out there who'd say the benefits don't outweigh the risks in that case, especially given that there's no longevity studies.

migamoo · 02-04-2007, 03:15 AM

Certain strains of HPV can lead to cancer but not all of them. The commercials you see on television make it seem that if you get any strain of HPV, you'll automatically get cancer. And they only state cervical cancer. HPV can lead to a variety of cancers. That right there is a marketing ploy that grates at my nerves. Just because a woman might contract HPV does not automatically mean she is going to have cervical cancer. But yes, I agree that it's a good thing to help prevent the spread of a STD but it only protects against a few of the strains. And if they are going to require one group of people to receive it, they should require the males as well.

lizzie2000 · 02-04-2007, 11:49 AM

the problem with males and HPV is that it is undetected in males and usually does nothing to harm them besides allow them to give it to other people. There are like 84 strands of HPV and only 2 i believe actually cause cervical cancer.


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