The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a groundbreaking report Wednesday that concluded the vaccine against genital human papillomavirus (HPV) has been more successful than scientists first thought at reducing the number of teen girls who develop cervical cancer in their lives.
“This report shows that HPV vaccine works well, and the report should be a wake-up call to our nation to protect the next generation by increasing HPV vaccination rates,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, MD, MPH. “Unfortunately only one third of girls aged 13-17 have been fully vaccinated with HPV vaccine. Countries such as Rwanda have vaccinated more than 80 percent of their teen girls. Our low vaccination rates represent 50,000 preventable tragedies—50,000 girls alive today will develop cervical cancer over their lifetime that would have been prevented if we reach 80 percent vaccination rates. For every year we delay in doing so, another 4,400 girls will develop cervical cancer in their lifetimes.”
A research study of parents of female teenagers, published in March in the journal Pediatrics, here, suggests parents who didn’t provide their daughters with the full battery of three shots over six months gave the typical reasons for not vaccinating, such as safety concerns, but also added another reason not listed among their reasons for not giving other vaccines: that their daughter wasn’t sexually active.
The CDC recommends vaccinating both boys and girls, but only about half of American females and fewer males have the immunizations. “It is important to get all three doses to get the best protection. The vaccines are most effective when given at 11 or 12 years old,” says the CDC.
Of course, 11- and 12-year-olds aren’t expected to be sexually active, but an editorial in the New York Times says, “Some parents fear that vaccination might promote promiscuity (the new study found no sign of that); some see no need to vaccinate girls before they become sexually active.”
I imagine the use of the word “fear” in this instance is a bit of an overstatement; teenagers say the two biggest reasons they abstain from sex are the fear of pregnancy and the fear of STDs, according to at least one study.
It’s therefore logical for parents to believe the virtual guarantee of safety from cervical cancer afforded their daughters by the HPV vaccine will reduce the fear of STDs in those children by a certain degree. However, there are still a whole host of STDs not included in the vaccine, and a vaccine against one disease just doesn’t diminish the influence from several other factors that keep students away from sex, including
- Resisting peer influence
- Focusing on long-term goals
- Developing the ability to control emotions and desires
- Respecting their parents’ desire that they remain abstinent
So can we encourage abstinence, if that’s the goal these parents have, and protect their daughters from cervical cancer effectively? I think we can.
My sense is this movement will require parents to better understand the need to vaccinate girls several years before they become sexually active. It’s a matter of educating them that the vaccine is more effective if given early, and that duty falls primarily on their parents and their doctors. We join the CDC, the Times, and others in urging doctors to educate their young female (and male) patients about this important research finding. Saving thousands of lives from cervical cancer is an important step toward improving the health of our young people. This isn’t about sex; it’s about spreading the truth about a tool we know will save lives.
