Stemming Cervical Cancer - European Agency Calls For More HPV Vaccinations

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are 500,000 new cases of cervical cancer and 250,000 deaths from the disease worldwide each year.

Sprenger said European countries might have to examine why their HPV vaccination rates are not higher, and change their campaigns accordingly. Parental permission is required to administer the vaccine to young girls.

Convincing Parents

The Robert Koch Institute, a German federal health agency, has recommended since 2007 that girls between the ages of 12 and 17 receive the vaccine. Although the public health insurance program covers the costs of the vaccine, only between 30 and 45 percent of girls receive it, the agency estimates.

That percentage is too low, said Yvonne Deler?, with the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the Robert Koch Institute. "If one wants to reduce the number of cases of cervical cancer and its early stages among the population, a vaccination rate of probably 80 percent would be needed," she said.

Two European countries are currently meeting that goal, according to the ECDC survey: Britain and Portugal. Many of the other countries have a vaccination rate hovering around 17 percent.

In Europe, the factors deterring people from choosing the vaccine are often its price tag and the fact that three separate shots have to be given over a period of six months, says the ECDC.

HPV is a group of viruses, at least 14 types of which are classified as "high risk" and can cause cervical cancer in women. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is a "common virus that is easily spread by skin-to-skin contact during sexual activity with another person."

Two types of HPV, types 16 and 18, cause about 70 percent of cervical cancers. The two vaccines licensed for use in Europe -- Cervarix offered by Britain's GlaxoSmithKline and Gardasil offered by Merck & Co. from the U.S. -- protect against both types. They do not, however, cure existing infections, so they should be given to girls before they become sexually active. Merck's vaccine also guards against other strains of the virus that cause genital warts.

Political Issue

In the U.S., the HPV vaccine has been a controversial political issue, with some public officials questioning its safety, and social conservatives questioning whether or not it would promote sexual promiscuity.

Last year, it became a hot-button issue during the Republican presidential primary campaign in the U.S.. Rick Perry, Republican governor of the state of Texas, came under fire from his opponents for having once issued a mandate requiring 6th grade girls in Texas to get the vaccine.

One of his opponents, Michele Bachmann, later had to backtrack after saying on television that the vaccine can have dangerous side effects and relaying a story about a woman who blamed it for her daughter's mental retardation.

The American Academy of Pediatrics blasted her comments as having no scientific basis, and has recommended the vaccines for both girls and boys between 11 and 12 years old.

The ECDC stopped short this week of recommending the vaccine for boys -- HPV can cause penile and anal cancers, among others -- because, it said, "including boys in the current HPV vaccination programs is unlikely to be cost-effective."

Intellpuke: This article is a compilation of reporting by Spiegel Online journalists and various news agencies; you can read it in context here: www.spiegel.de/international/europe/european-agency-recommends-hpv-vaccine-for-all-girls-a-854323.html

Source: http://freeinternetpress.com/story/Stemming-Cervical-Cancer-European-Agency-Calls-For-More-HPV-Vaccinations-35879.html

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