A critical vaccine is being kept from our daughters! Please help.

[KyndCulture]

The religious right and this administration are preventing the extremely important HPV vaccine from reaching our daughters. I have HPV and as a result of the infection 20 years ago I also have cervical cancer. Not ONE of our daughters ever needs to go through this. This is a 100% preventable disease now. The religious right is making all kinds of noise about vaccinating teen age girls against an STD and the FDA has now backed down and refuses to release the vaccine to the public and to make this vaccine a part of the required immunizations for our daughters.

This is the single most important discovery in women's health in the last 50 years. There are millions and millions of immune carriers of this virus, men who carry it don't even know they have it a vast majority of the time. It is the #1 cause of cervical cancer - more than 85% of women who are infected will get cancer.

Please read this article and contact your Senators and Congress people as soon as possible. This is a travesty! The only way we going to get the these drugs for our daughters is if we can make more noise about it than the religious right is. Every teenage girl needs this vaccine!

---------------

Don’t Let Politics Interfere in the Fight against Cervical Cancer

by Jonathan Moreno, Sam Berger and Jonas Singer
January 6, 2006

The announcement that scientists at Merck & Co. and GlaxoSmithKline have developed vaccines that drastically reduce or eliminate a major cause of cervical cancer is welcome news. These vaccines, among the most important public health victories since the polio vaccine, appear to be both safe and effective in preventing the most dangerous strains of the cancer-causing and highly infectious skin-to-skin contact disease known as human papilloma virus (HPV). Instead of wholeheartedly applauding this scientific breakthrough, however, some social conservatives have expressed concern that, because the disease is generally spread by sexual activity, widespread administration of the vaccines to teens could be seen as encouraging teenage sexual activity and promiscuity. Rather than admit that some young adults will have sex and seek practical solutions to the associated risks, social conservatives have chosen to hide from the facts, and women pay the ultimate price.

Merck’s new vaccine, Gardasil, is a promising solution to a very serious health threat; cervical cancer affects over 10,000 women in the United States each year, killing more than 3,700 annually. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that over 20,000,000 men and women are carriers of HPV, the primary cause of cervical cancer in the United States, although most people experience no serious side effects and do not even know they are infected. Preliminary lab tests show that both Gardasil and GlaxoSmithKline’s vaccine Cervarix are 100 percent effective in preventing cervical pre-cancers and noninvasive cervical cancers caused by HPV 16 and 18, two strains of the disease that are responsible for 70 percent of all cases of cervical cancer.

Research has shown that to be most effective, the vaccines should be administered to individuals before they become sexually active. The vaccine causes a stronger immune reaction – making it more effective – among adolescents between 10 and 15 years of age, as opposed to young adults between 16 and 23 years of age. To ensure people are vaccinated at the appropriate time, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices at the CDC should recommend that public schools add the HPV vaccines to the list of required vaccinations, which already includes vaccines for diseases like diphtheria, measles, rubella and polio. Of course, it is not always easy to make medical benefits available to all. Therefore the Institute of Medicine (IOM) should undertake a study and recommend the best measures for disseminating the vaccine, including the option of adding it to the mandatory vaccination.schedule for school attendance. Having students vaccinated for HPV before becoming sexually active would greatly reduce the prevalence of HPV and cervical cancer.

Some conservatives have objected to adding an HPV vaccine to the list of required school vaccinations. They argue that mandating the vaccine for students will encourage young people to be more sexually promiscuous. As Bridget Maher of the Family Research Council said, “Giving the HPV vaccine to young women could be potentially harmful, because they may see it as a license to engage in premarital sex.” Conservatives also claim that mandating the vaccine infringes on parents’ right to teach their children as they see fit – particularly for parents who favor abstinence-only education. Worries of increased sexual activity among youth are entirely unfounded; there is overwhelming scientific evidence that comprehensive sex education does not increase youth sexual activity, but does decrease the transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Conservatives have once again raised the fear that advocating for anything other than abstinence will increase sexual activity, a ploy previously used to restrict comprehensive sex education in schools and access to over-the-counter emergency contraception.


---snip--- much more at the link

http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=1335257

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Thanks for posting this and reminding us know how very important it is.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

2. The vaccine is important.... and in the meantime, so is this.

1: Altern Med Rev. 2005 Dec;10(4):337-342. Related Articles, Links


Indole-3-carbinol - monograph.



Indole-3-carbinol (I3C) is a compound found in high concentrations in Brassica family vegetables, including broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage. As a nutritional supplement, I3C has received attention in recent years as a promising preventive and treatment agent for breast and other types of cancers, and may have beneficial effect in the management of Herpes simplex virus (HSV) and human papilloma virus (HPV). Preliminary studies have examined its efficacy, safety, and optimal dosage. Early studies have been promising, and will likely be followed by larger clinical trials.

PMID: 16366742

[Maraya1969]

34. I had some pre-cancerous cells removed and a holistic doc told

me later that if I had been taking about 1,000 mg of Folic Acid/day it would have never happened. Then I remembered how women who are trying to get pregnant are urged to take Folic Acid and the thought occurred to me that it may not be just to help the growing fetus, (supposed to be important in the first trimester and supposed to stop birth defects) but it may make the uterus more or a healthy environment for a baby to grow in.

Anyway, ladies take your folic acid and eat your brussel sprouts. 4moronicyears you did not mention if 13C is available as a supplement or not. 3TC is a drug that is supposed to increase immune function. I don't' know if they are somehow related or not.

[SmokingJacket]

3. I didn't know it was being held up.

:grr:

So stupid and wrong on so many levels... not the least of which is the idea that the threat of cancer many years down the road is stopping *any* teenager from having sex...

[KyndCulture]

6. yeah exactly...

like a vaccine is gonna make a kid have or not have sex... stupid fucking fanatics...

[klook]

17. The availability of aspirin and black coffee

is putting our youth at risk for binge drinking, too, I guess. :wtf:

[The Doctor.]

24. And when the daughters of these ignorant

fucktards contract cervical cancer because they didn't allow them the vaccine, I'll have no sympathy for them... just for their daughters.

[KyndCulture]

4. Oh and ladies... call and make an appointment for that pap smear

that you've been putting off. PLEASE! I waited too long and am facing 4 months of chemo.

[ninkasi]

25. I truly hope the chemo works for you

I'm sorry you're facing that; I'd be scared, I know. I'll be praying for you, and hope you let us know how you do. I hope you've got lots of support from family and friends.

[firefox]

5. Sounds like more medical fascism to me.

Is this vaccine used in other parts of the world and has it been shown effective?

[KyndCulture]

8. Almost 100% effective for the 2 most deadly strains of the virus.

The clinical trials in the US were started over 4 years ago, but yet they are still sitting on this drug.

[Hello_Kitty]

7. Thank you so much for posting this

And I'm so sorry about your cancer. I hope you are doing okay. :hug:

If I were confronted with a conservative who objected to the vaccine I'd ask him/her to consider the following scenario: Let's say you raised your daughter to be abstinent until marriage. She adheres to those values and saves herself for a boy from a similar background who also kept himself pure. After 5 years of marriage the husband strays briefly, as sometimes happens even among devout religious folk, with a woman who has HPV. Your daughter, who married as a virgin and never committed adultery, contracts the virus from her husband and develops cervical cancer years later because of it. Would you be glad you kept that vaccine from her?

[FreedomAngel82]

9. I can't stand what they're doing either

:mad: Blocking stem cell research and things like this. :mad: They don't give a damn about the living. If they were so pro-life they would prove it and care!

[Greyhound]

10. K&R, Should be on the front page.

:kick:

[rman]

11. kick for better health care

[DrRang]

12. Absolutely agree with your cause, but 85% of women with HPV don't get cerv

I agree. It is completely evil to block access to the vaccine against HPV. I think the "meme" to stress is "These people would rather your daughters have cancer than have sex." However, thankfully, luckily, most women who have HPV virus don't develop cervical cancer. There are many different variants of the virus and only a couple create a possibility to developing cancer.

[KyndCulture]

13. oh hey very good meme there...

Guess they want their kids to have cancer.


Sorry bout the number, that's just what my doc said to me yesterday. She might have been talking about a particular strain of the virus though, it was a rather long day I might have misheard her.

[girl gone mad]

14. I'm pretty certain the number is much lower.

Although I don't know the exact percentage.

Regardless, it is a despicable move on the part of the religious right to prevent women from getting this vaccine.

[KyndCulture]

16. Once again the religious right doesn't give 2 shits about the already born

[The Backlash Cometh]

15. Sounds like a petition even Republican would sign.

Anyone know how to give this one the most exposure?

[AlinPA]

20. A republican signing it? Doubt that. Note it is Bush**'s FDA that folded

Rpigs won't go against their God and saviour Bush**.

[verse18]

18. K & R

[AlinPA]

19. re: " FDA has now backed down and refuses to release the vaccine .."

This is the Bush**-Rove theocracy being run by the right wing. They have huge power. This is the first time that I have heard about this.

[Canuckistanian]

21. What's disgusting is that they have this kind of power

Are they going to block other cancer-fighting drugs because it could be seen as thwarting God's will to strike someone down?

They way they reason things, I wouldn't be surprised at all.

Untill you get these nutcases out of public life and official decision making, you're on the long slide down to being a superstition-riddled third world country.

[Flabbergasted]

22. Its funny on the other hand that big these massive companies would

allow fundies to get in the way of a profit unless they would make more money from someone getting the cancer?

[ChairmanAgnostic]

23. we live in a sick society. The sickness stems from ultra-religious

willfully ignorant people who wish to impose their standards on the rest of the world.
It truly is a war, a cultural war. It is a war we cannot afford to lose.

[progressoid]

26. Thanks. will read this later.

[muriel_volestrangler]

27. The article does not say "the FDA has now backed down"

Merck's vaccine was submitted for approval in early December; Glaxo hope to submit theirs soon.

However, some conservatives have said they want to prevent giving the vaccine to children; the article is saying it should be given. The FDA has not yet made a decision - and public clamour for the vaccine will help overcome the pressure from the conservatives.

[KyndCulture]

28. I looked for several articles, I was told this by my GYN doc yesterday.

She is very pissed off about this. This was the most current article I could find on it going on what she told me.

[muriel_volestrangler]

29. OK, maybe she heard internal information about what the FDA is thinking

Normally, a priority aproval takes up to 6 months - http://www.fda.gov/cder/reports/reviewtimes/default.htm - so we wouldn't have expected to have heard anything publicly after just one month.

[KyndCulture]

46. Since this info came from a doc that deals with this daily.

I trust what she said to me. Finding this articles was difficult. Most are out of date. When I return next week I'll see if she can point me to a medical journal.

I do believe she has insider information. Is she is so angry at the FDA, she knows something. She's not the type to get that angry over something. But she knows that I am a politics junky so we talked for a long time about it...

I looked for a long time for proper articles to back up what she said to me. They are probably medical journals and most of those are pay sites and you can't access the articles.

I will ask however. This issue is too important.


I am not trying to be misleading in any way. This article does mention the religious right, that is why I chose it. I have a feeling there is MUCH more than meets the eye here and contacting our reps certainly cannot hurt.

[muriel_volestrangler]

50. I agree contacting your reps is a good idea

(I'm British, so it doesn't apply to me), and the religious right would like to stop it - I expect they are contacting politicians, so the feeling of the 'normal' people should be known too. But it may be better to say "some people are trying to prevent a health vaccine" rather than "the FDA have already turned it down" - because if they check and see there's been no official decision yet, they might discount someone saying there has been. Perhaps say that your gyn specialist has heard there's pressure on the FDA - the more that people 'in the business' are involved, the better.

Good luck!

[RagingInMiami]

30. Can you buy it from one of those overseas websites?

[Nikki Stone 1]

31. This is a most ignorant decision on the part of the FDA

:kick:

[SPKrazy]

32. Fundies are INSANE

I have no other conclusion to draw regarding them.

They give Christians a bad name.

What to do about them?

First, the MSM needs to quit giving them the power to speak for "Christians" when they are speaking for a sub group of Christians.

[wiley]

33. GOD will damn them

Sorry for the extreme judgement, but someone has to start exposing the deaths, mutilations, injuries and effects on health that bizarre radical right wing religious fundamentalism has on all of us. What's next? Clitorectomy? Cages? They would rather their children die virgins. Didn't Atta have some version of this type of fundamentalist extremism in his head?


CORRUPT REPUBLICANS
IMPEACH!

[BlackVelvet04]

35. Why must it be mandatory?

"CDC should recommend that public schools add the HPV vaccines to the list of required vaccinations, which already includes vaccines for diseases like diphtheria, measles, rubella and polio. Of course, it is not always easy to make medical benefits available to all. Therefore the Institute of Medicine (IOM) should undertake a study and recommend the best measures for disseminating the vaccine, including the option of adding it to the mandatory vaccination.schedule for school attendance."

I don't have a problem with the vaccine being a voluntary thing, as long as it is available to those who want it.

[MiniMe]

48. I agree. It should be voluntary.

That way the fundies can't say that we are forcing unneeded vaccines on their kids.

[Maddy McCall]

36. DU guys, you know I love ya, as I have proven countless times...

but if this vaccine saved men's appendages from developing cancer, you know it would have been fastlined to approval and would already be offered at every health clinic across the US. For free.

[Hissyspit]

37. That's because it is women who cause sex to happen.

Everything is their fault. Men are just going to have sex, so we should get drugs, but women cause it to happen, so they should pay for their irresponsiblity.

Doncha get it?

Extreme :sarcasm:.

[Hissyspit]

38. "The Bush Admin: Continuing Its Tradition of Slaughtering Americans"

"On Our Own Soil As Well As Abroad." (Some of them we're doing it the slow way...)

[DanCa]

39. Done - i know how you feel the bastards are keeping me crippled up

daily now because I need stem cell research. I remember the good ole days when you needed a license to practice medicine in this country.

[katinmn]

40. Hate to say it but I believe its motivated by our free market economy

More profits are gained through a chemo regimen than from a simple vaccine injection.

Remember, health care is ALL about profits now, not about delivering the best possible care.

kyndculture -- thanks for posting this. It's another abomination by BushCo.
Sorry about your worry and treatments. :hug:

[pecwae]

41. Tell me about it!

My chemo costs around $300 a week out of pocket even with insurance and I'm taking 18 treatments plus a year of Herceptin. This will wipe out my small savings, but what of those who have no savings and no insurance? They go without.

[Raster]

42. no, the highest motivation by the reich-wing is the sexual aspect

1) They believe that if they give the vaccine to teens they will be more inclined have premarital sex; and (2) you won't get HPV if you only have sex with your partner and only after you are married.

This vaccine is not only for women. Men can also get HPV. They can get it on their penis, in their groin area or around/in their anus. Once again, this is another example of the radical right trying to control your sexuality. And I must agree with a previous poster that opined that if HPV affected men's penises as seriously as a woman's cervix, this would be a mandatory injection with full governmental pomp and circumstance.

[katinmn]

43. Yes, I believe these motivations work in tandem

Control and profits. What a wonderful marraige of ideologies.

[Celebration]

44. Almost EVERYONE is misreading this article

Apparently the social conservatives are not trying to ban the vaccine, or keep it from being approved. They are trying to keep it from being a mandatory vaccine for going to school. Here it is, Sunday morning, I am not in church, and have no such inclination, and I AGREE WITH THEM. We here at DU get all excited about mandatory mental health screening in schools (I agree with the DU position on that-I feel it is a big invasion of privacy and helpful to big pharma). Why should we have another mandatory vaccine? There are probably already too many mandatory vaccines. I wouldn't object to it going on a recommended list, but it should NOT be a requirement to go to school. IMHO.

[KyndCulture]

47. If you read up in the thread, this wasn't the best article to illustrate.

Just the only recent one i could find. The information I have is from a doctor and I am POSITIVE she's got insider data from medical journals that us lay people can't access online.

If there is a doctor on DU I've been asking if they can check recent copies of the journals for what she told me. She is not one to get upset like this for no reason, she been my doc for a long time and I trust that if she is very upset and discussed the religious right with me, something is going on big time.

[Celebration]

49. I've been looking

All I can find also have to do with whether this will be an optional vaccination or required. If there is something about the religious right actually not wanting this available or approved, I would like to see it. I don't think most of them are that dumb. Well, Pat Robertson might be that dumb, but he seems to put his foot in his mouth at every turn. I don't think this vaccine should be required for admission to schools. Believe me, I am not a member of the religious right--just concerned about the number of required vaccinations. I'm not going to get all riled up about this issue until I see that certain groups are trying to limit availability or approval.

[greiner3]

45. They're in denial;

Until THEIR daughters come home pregnant. Abstinence will not work. Teens are too much into themselves. Hell, it did not work in the 50's and NO ONE had sex then.

[Hissyspit]

51. kick