When I first wrote this it ended of being a full two page rant…..but then I realized it’s probably not the most exciting thing to read for most, so here’s a snapshot of how I feel:
Since the new vaccine protecting against cervical cancer has come out, I’ve been reading articles over parents’ opinions on whether their daughters should be vaccinated. Questions over whether vaccinating will promote under-age sex are a popular topic of argument between parents and some non-secular authorities.
I am outraged. If a known cancer causing disease can be eradicated from the face of this earth, does it really matter how the disease is transmitted? This was an especially annoying opinion I read of one parent:
“Paul, 41, initially believed that protecting Freya against a sexually transmitted disease — when she has only the loosest concept of what sex actually is — was simply irresponsible”
Well Paul – does your daughter know how she can catch measles, mumps, rubella, pertussis, tetanus, and hepatits B? Did you try and explain those things to her when she had those vaccinations? My guess is probably not. My guess is that it didn’t even cross your mind to explain it to her, because regardless of how those diseases are transmitted you are protecting the present and future welfare of your daughter.
I would go as far to saying that HPV virus causing cervical cancer is the last thing that teenagers and many young adults are thinking about when they engage in sexual activity. I highly doubt that a female knowing she is protected against cervical cancer will alter her attitudes and values on sex – those morals will be well formed (and partly instilled by her parents) before she makes her decisions.
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There are many things that facilitate the spread of disease – poverty being the number one cause in most parts of the world, but in a society of plenty, it is sheer ignorance that provides an ample breeding ground for infection.
4 comments:
After reading your comments, I have to disagree with you for the following reason.
I believe in making the world a safe place for our children, but not our children's children. Because frankly I don't think that our children should be having sex!
The vaccine is to treat HPV. It is not a vaccine to treat cancer or a proven cure for cervical cancer. Having the vaccine may decrease your chance of getting cervical cancer but it doesn’t cure cervical cancer. In most cases HPV does cure itself! The pharmaceutical companies are pushing this as a cancer cure and the public is buying into it 100%. We need to wait and see what future studies show before we line up our daughters (men can get HPV too!) for this vaccine.
Anyway, those are my two cents.
Anonymous, I agree with you regarding your thoughts on the pharmaceutical industry, but the vaccine is not to treat HPV but to prevent certain strains from infecting individuals. Even though most strains of HPV are benign there are some different types have been proven to cause cervical cancer. The vaccine only covers for 4 strains of the HPV virus, it includes two of the strains proven to cause cervical cancer. So no, the vaccine does not cure cervical cancer, but it can prevent HPV from being the initiating agent. My aggravation is with some of the attitudes people have towards the vaccine promoting sexual promiscuity, and the underlying double standards. If I was a male I would be equally pissed that the boys aren't being vaccinated at the same time as the girls.
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