Should The HPV Vaccine Gardasil Be Mandated?

1. Should The HPV Vaccine Gardasil Be Mandated? McKay Shelley Position Argument

2. HPV is the most commonly sexually transmitted disease. It is estimated that 70 % of sexually active people in the United States will contract HPV at some point in their lives. HPV is also the most common cause for oral as well as cervical cancers (Cancer Stats You Cannot Afford to Ignore)

4. Aside from abstinence, the HPV vaccine Gardasil is the most effective way in preventing the disease. To make Gardasil a mandatory vaccine, it would be done to prevent woman from getting strands that could lead to cervical cancer. It would also help prevent men from spreading the virus and catching the virus themselves. • The virus is most effective when administered to people before they become sexually active. The HPV vaccine can be administered as early as the age of 9, and until you reach the age of 25.

6. The HPV vaccine Gardasil is the absolute most effective way in preventing the spread of HPV. Many kids may believe that if they use condoms they are completely protected from STI’s. Because the Human Papilloma virus is a “skin virus”, it can be transferred through any skin to skin contact, thus eliminating the effectiveness of condoms. This is also the reason why the Human Papilloma Virus is the most common STI in the United States.

7. By the prevention of cancerous strands of the virus through the prevention of HPV with the Gardasil Vaccine, lives would be saved and cervical cancer, the second most prominent cancer in woman, second to breast cancer, could be largely decreased. With the utilization off an HPV vaccination we would be dramatically cutting down cancer rates in woman. Cancerous HPV can be found in men as well, although woman are more susceptible due to having open sex tracts, as well as the difference in organs between men and woman resulting in higher cancer cases in woman.

8. Arguments Against An HPV Vaccination • One of the main arguments against a mandatory HPV vaccination is that it would promote promiscuous behavior. Some parents or leaders may have the impression that children will think that they are invincible to pregnancy or other STI’s if they are given the vaccine. (The Signal)

9. I believe the solution to this concern resides in childhood sexual education. If children are properly educated, and we as leaders and parents do all that we can to insure that they are protected against STI’s, I believe this would be the most effective way to combat the war on HPV.

10. Moral and Ethical Concerns • Another ethical or moral concern, (Rockoff) is that some parents don’t believe that there children would or will participate in sexual activities either while in school, or before marriage. An HPV vaccination is not neither harmful, wrong, nor does it insure that those who receive it are sexually active. By making the Gardasil vaccination mandatory to children in school, everyone would have it, and those who choose to participate in sexual activity will have a decreased chance in receiving a strand of HPV that could ultimately lead to cervical cancer.

11. The vaccination is designed to prevent disease and ultimately death. In receiving the vaccine, it by no means forces you to participate in activity you otherwise wouldn’t. In a sense the vaccine will possibly save your life.

12. HPV can lead to suffering, pain, and or death. There are an extremely high number of people who engage in premarital sexual activity. And out of these people an extremely high amount have contracted HPV. Such a large percentage of people participate in risky sexual practices. In a perfect world, yes, teens and young adults wouldn’t participate in risky sexual activity. The bold point is that it’s not a perfect world and people are going to have sex based on lack of education, and a sense of invincibility that “It” could never happen to them. Abstinence programs do not work. You either have a strong belief prior to an abstinence class, in which you agree with the message, or you’re on the ropes about sex in which the class may or may not make a difference. Abstinence classes are however taught across schools in the US, yet as we are seeing upward trends of HPV infection, abstinence classes are clearly uneffective ( Our Sexuality).

13. If the Gardasil vaccine were to be mandated, it should not serve as a replacement to other screenings for cervical cancer. I do agree that it should be used as another tool in fighting against HPV, however I still believe that other forms of protection be used, and that woman continue to get pre screenings or pap smears in prevention of cervical cancer ( Herper, U.S. Lost Faith).

14. Work Cited • "The Signal - Student Publication of UHCL." The Signal - Student Publication of UHCL. N.p., 2007. Web. 13 Mar. 2013. <http://prtl.uhcl.edu/portal/page/portal/USN/TheSignal/Editorial?articleId=687>. • Rockoff, Jonathan D. "Making Gardasil Vaccination Mandatory Would Be Unwise, Academics Say." Health Blog RSS. N.p., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 13 Mar. 2013. <http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/11/11/making-gardasil-vaccination-mandatory-would-be-unwise-academics-say/>. • Oz, M.D., Mehmet. "The HPV and Cancer Stats You Can't Afford to Ignore." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 10 Oct. 2012. Web. 13 Mar. 2013. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mehmet-oz/hpv-cancer_b_1954550.html>. • Crooks, Robert, and Karla Baur. "Genital Warts CH. 15." Our Sexuality. Redwood City, CA: Benjamin Cummings Pub., 1990. 456-58. Print. • Herper, Matthew. "The Gardasil Problem: How The U.S. Lost Faith In A Promising Vaccine." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 04 Apr. 2012. Web. 13 Mar. 2013. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2012/04/04/americas-gardasil-problem-how-politics-poisons-public-health/3/>.