ACTION NEEDED. HPV Vaccination to Become Mandatory in PA?

Have you noticed a proliferation in talk about the HPV vaccination and cervical cancer? On February 2nd Texas Governor Rick Perry bypassed the legislators and signed an executive order mandating that all girls entering sixth grade in 2008 must have the HPV vaccination. Turns out ‘Women in Government’ has been working hand in hand with the pharmaceutical company Merck to get legislators to introduce bills in their respective state capitols. Merck is hiring lobbyists in each state and will probably earn $1 billion annually by getting states to mandate the HPV vaccination. Thus far they have been successful in some type action in all states except South Dakota. Click here to view the map from Women in Government.

Here in Pennsylvania, HR 21 passed in the State House on January 29 – this was a resolution setting aside January 21-27 for “Cervical Cancer Awareness Week in Pennsylvania,” but the HPV vaccination is also mentioned in the resolution! Here’s the link.

Also on February 12, Representative Babette Josephs (D-Philadelphia) began circulating a “Dear Colleague Memo” asking for co-sponsors to a bill that would require girls entering sixth grade to bring a letter from their physician stating that the girl’s parents have received information about HPV and cervical cancer and the girl has either received the HPV vaccination or the parents have decided to opt out.

Click here to read the statement from the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.

According to the PA Department of Health the four common cancers in Pennsylvania are Female Breast, Bronchus and Lung, Prostate, Colon and Rectum and Urinary Bladder.

In 2003, there were 510 cases of invasive cervical cancer in Pennsylvania. Additionally, according to 2004 data, 154 deaths occurred due to cervical cancer (Source: Department of Health Bureau of Health Statistics and Research). The American Cancer Society estimates that there will be 310 new cases of cervical cancer in Pennsylvania in 2006.

Any death due to cancer is a tragedy . . . but should this warrant a state mandated vaccination for a sexually transmitted disease be given to 11 and 12 year old girls?? Please let you State Representative know of your concerns.

Some additional facts and talking points from Michigan that we could use here in Pennsylvania:

1) The only way to get HPV is by sexual intercourse. HPV cannot be transmitted without sexual activity and does not constitute a public health threat. All other mandated vaccines covered easily communicable diseases. What precedent does this set?

2) Why are our legislators targeting 11 year-olds for a sexually transmitted disease? Current laws make it illegal for girls to have sex before the age of 16.

3) The common Pap Smear is highly effective in detecting abnormalities that lead to cervical cancer. Gardasil vaccination does not eliminate the need for regular pap smears.

4) Cervical cancer causes approximately one percent (0.77%) of all cancer deaths in America. (There were 154 Pennsylvania deaths from cervical cancer in 2004.)

5) It takes between 8.1 and 12.6 years to develop cervical cancer. Merck testing of Gardasil was only 4 years among 25,000 subjects, far less than the average time lapse needed to develop the cancer.

6) The average age of a woman that develops cervical cancer is 48 years of age. Will a vaccine administered at the age of 11 be effective 37 years into the future?

7) Of the more than 25,000 total individuals tested, less than 2,000 girls aged 9 to 15 years were included in clinical trials.

8) Actual costs for the HPV vaccine are running above the estimate of $360.00; some as high as $900 for the three shot series. In addition girls and women must have a pregnancy test before each vaccine per Merck recommendations against vaccinating pregnant women. Presumably this vaccine could be harmful to the unborn.

9) Since boys are the “donors” of the HP Virus to the girls, how long will it be until a forced vaccination of boys will be enacted?

10) Mandating of this vaccine is opposed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Texas Medical Association, and the Catholic Medical Association.

11) Just because medication is approved by the FDA it doesn’t mean it is safe for all persons. Remember VIOXX

ACTION NEEDED:

1.) Please contact your State Representative and ask him or her not to sign on as a co-sponsor of the HPV Vaccination bill to be introduced by Representative Josephs. Click here and key in your nine-digit zip code or county in the upper right hand corner to find your State Representative.

2.) The HPV vaccination and the ramifications of a state mandate will be the topic of discussion on American Family Focus on PA Issues this week. My guest is Fran Bevan, president of the Pennsylvania Eagle Forum and a Certified Medical Technologist. The program will air Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. on WAWN 89.5 FM in Franklin and Saturday at 4:00 p.m. on WTMV 88.5 in Youngsville. Beginning tomorrow evening it can be heard on our website by clicking here.

3.) Feel free to forward this alert to other concerned Pennsylvanians. If this alert is being forwarded to you by a friend, please feel free to sign up by sending an e-mail to info@afaofpa.org

4.) Please consider supporting the ongoing work of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania. Make an online donation.

In His service,
Diane Gramley
President
American Family Association of PA