I somewhat posted my comments/criticism/critique of the HPV vaccine on the Blackboard post I CCed below, but I plan to come back and throw in some links to things I found while researching the topic a while back.
The Austin Chronicle often has rather offbeat, refreshing takes on politics - I liked what they had to say about the subject. I think this, as well as all the other topics for our discussion this session, are really interesting and relevant to us all as Texas citizens, whether by upbringing or just for these college years.
Here are some random non-vaccine thoughts about the whole thing:
I do believe that Perry's actions were timed to coincide with public awareness regarding the upcoming primaries. Since when has Texas been a progressive state? While I will offer him a generous benefit-of-the-doubt regarding his motives, I do question why there wasn't any public input time allowed. For something this important, that would be a huge deal. It seems stupid to go off half-cocked. All these fancy quotes - "I choose to err on the side of protecting life" - could mean nothing if a girl dies because the vaccine isn't tested safe enough yet or something like that. As the UT student says, "It's a very smart move." Bottom line: Perry should not gamble with the health of millions of young girls for the sake of his career. He cannot pretend that this vaccine is just like polio simply because he wants to hope it will be a success.
As I said in my post below, costs add up. This one rep/mother is obviously concerned about the safety for her four daughters, but if she had to shoulder the cost of these immunizations as well - I know few people who can swallow a $1500 overnight cost without at least adjusting SOMETHING in their budget.
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3 comments:
Good solid post, although I'm a bit confused as to where you stand on the "make it mandatory" issue. Where did the $1500 figure come from?
"Thoughts on HPV Vaccine"
Although I agree that Perry’s motives should be questioned, I dispute your sentiment that he deserves the benefit of the doubt. Taking into account Perry’s history, including the Father’s Day Massacre where Perry vetoed 78 bills from one session, many of which dealt with health care, Texans can’t help but question to his motives.
I feel that there is a general lack of knowledge on the subject among the public. Media, doctors, scientists and our government have portrayed HPV and the HPV vaccine in so many different ways, citizens can have difficulty making an informed decision. I agree with your view that the decision to vaccinate or not should be a decision left to the individual. Education in essential to making an informed decision and those responsible for educating the public have failed in their task. HPV is not a disease that spreads by a cough and there should be no mandatory requirement to take the vaccine.
In reality, HPV is a complex virus. Some studies suggest that at least 50% of sexually active men and women contract HPV. Whereas some people’s immune system is able to ward off the virus, other people are not as fortunate.
Females who contract HPV could develop cervical cancer, OR they could develop genital warts. It is less publicized that there are numerous strains of the HPV virus. Some strains develop cancer and others develop warts. The HPV vaccine doesn’t contain ALL of the strains, therefore a female receiving the vaccine is not completely protected from the virus.
Furthermore, with all of the controversy surrounding the state sponsored vaccinations, we have forgotten to take into account treatment for males. Females contract the virus from males therefore males obviously harbor the virus, sometimes without any symptoms. Unfortunately, males can not receive the vaccine, so they simply keep spreading, often unknowingly. In truth, the medical society doesn’t fully understand the capabilities of the disease in males an as a result there are still many kinks to be worked out.
More info: http://www.cdc.gov/std/hpv/
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