Vermont: Push for cancer vaccine goes on

Vermont: Push for cancer vaccine goes on

	Published : Thu, 22 Feb 2007 17:47 By : Agencies Print this Story

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - Merck & Co.'s suspension of a lobbying campaign aimed at getting states to require use of its new cervical cancer vaccine won't stop the push for vaccinations in Vermont, a lawmaker said Wednesday.

The drug company has pulled the plug on its campaign to persuade state legislatures to mandate that adolescent girls get the Gardasil vaccine as a requirement for school attendance.

Some object because the vaccine protects against a sexually transmitted disease -- human papilloma virus -- that causes cervical cancer.

The vaccine, a three-shot series that costs $360, protects against strains of HPV, which causes cervical, vulvar and vaginal cancers and genital warts.

A bill before the Vermont Legislature would require the vaccinations for girls before they enter sixth grade. It would provide for immunizations for all 11-year-olds, with the state paying for uninsured recipients. The parents or guardians of girls could 'opt out' on religious or moral grounds.

Under the bill, those who do so would be required to sign a statement acknowledging the receipt of information explaining the connection between HPV and cervical cancer.

'All I want to do is educate people,' said state Rep. Denise Barnard, a sponsor who helped organize a legislative dinner promoting the bill Wednesday night. 'If one legislator goes out and tells a constituent about HPV vaccine and that parent goes out and has a conversation with their daughter or their wife, it will have been a success.'

But opponents say it isn't government's place to mandate the shots.

'To think that an 11-year-old would be forced to take this vaccine, based on the assumption they'll be sexually active, it's more than annoying,' said Stephen Cable, president of Vermont Renewal, a Rutland group dedicated to promoting traditional moral values.

'If you look at every place they have pushed hard, the pushback from parents has been phenomenal. That will happen here. There are a lot of parents who haven't heard about this (legislation). When they do, the hair will be standing up on the back of their necks,' Cable said.

The dinner, hosted by the women's legislative caucus and the Vermont Commission on Women, was paid for by event sponsors, not by Merck or by Women In Government, the advocacy group through which Merck had been working, according to Barnard.

'Merck has nothing to do with this dinner. They haven't contributed one cent, nor would I let them,' said Barnard, D-Richmond.

More than 100 people turned out for the dinner, hearing from cervical cancer survivor Allison Hicks, acting state health Commission Sharon Moffatt and a gynecologist who specializes in cancer.

If Vermont begins requiring the vaccinations, it would cost the state about $7 million a year, according to Barnard.

The state's rate of cervical cancer is 8.7 per 100,000 women, compared with a rate of 7.2 per 100,000 nationally. About 31 Vermonters are diagnosed with it each year, and 10 die from it, according to the state Department of Health.