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Fighting cervical cancer via vaccine |
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The provincial government has implemented a new program to prevent cervical cancer through an HPV vaccination program for girls between nine and 17-years-old.
Public health department officials in the Estrie region yesterday held a press conference to explain the mass-immunization program which is being added to Quebec’s vaccination schedule.
Gardasil, which has been described as a major medical breakthrough in women’s health, protects women against the human papilloma virus, a leading cause of cervical cancer.
Since the beginning of September, girls in Grade 4 and Grade 9 will be offered the Gardasil vaccine free as part of a program carried out in schools. The vaccine must be administered in three doses with at least six months between inoculations.
Health officials say the most effective time to start vaccinating is between age 9 and 11. Like for other school vaccination programs, parental consent is required for girls under the age of 14.
Any girl younger than 18 who is not attending school can receive the vaccine free. Women between 18 and 26 can be immunized, but the vaccine is not free for women 18 years of age or older.
Dr. Geneviève Petit, from the Direction de santé publique de l’Estrie, noted that HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection and that it is at the origin of cancerous and precancerous lesions. When lesions are not detected early enough, they can become cancerous after several years.
Statistics show 70 to 80 per cent of sexually active men and women will be infected with HPV during their lives, said Dr. Petit.
While most infected people don’t know they have the virus and spontaneously eliminate it, cervical cancer can develop if the infection persists, she said.
Every year in Quebec, about 325 women learn that they have cervical cancer and 80 die from it, say public health officials.
Cervical cancer is the second leading killer of women between 20 and 44 years old. Between 50 and 100 women will be also treated for pre-cancerous lesions.
Gardasil will prevent 70 per cent of all cases of cervical cancer while reducing the number of pre cancerous lesions and genital warts, health officials say. Vaccination will also reduce the medical costs associated with HP.
Family practitioner Dr. Françoise Gendron said the HPV vaccine should be seen as an asset in the fight against sexually transmitted diseases, but notes that young girls, vaccinated or not, should also practice safe sex habits to protect themselves from other STDs, notably by using condoms.
Dr. Petit notes the HPV immunization program is meant to work in conjunction with methods already used to detect and prevent cervical cancer, and that women who are immunized should still get pap tests.
For more details about the vaccination program and information about HPV, in English, visit the website of the Health and Social Service ministry at www.msss.gouv.qc.ca/vaccination;
For more information about HPV and Gardasil, you can also ask your family doctor, visit a local clinic for information or visit the website of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada at www.hpvinfo.ca
Staff
September 19, 2008 |
Montreal Canadiens
