Schoolgirls to get 'cancer jab'

[lazytown]

Hi all, Just been reading the artilce below from the BBC and was wondering what are the thoughts of others?
I remember reading about this a while ago about girls in america getting the jab and parents etc being concerned about it because of it possibly encouraging sexual promiscuity.

I think that it a excellent idea if it is going to protect our children from disease.
It is still up to parents to advise their children about sexual health regardless of what injections become available.

BBC Article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7062479.stm

HPV Facts:
http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/help/default.asp?page=5193

[Penelope Pitstop]

I'm with you. I think it's a great idea. Any idea when they start the program in Scotland??

[lazytown]

I'm with you. I think it's a great idea. Any idea when they start the program in Scotland??

The only thing in the article is that both Wales and Scotland have announced similar plans and Northern Ireland are yet to finalize the details.

But after some googling I found this from the Scotland.Gov website.

"The Scottish government is committed to providing this vaccine to girls around 12 years of age and free of charge. It is our intention for funding for this to be included in our forthcoming spending review and we will aim to implement by autumn 2008."

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2007/06/20154748

[porshiepoo]

I think they need to review the age restrictions though.
Both my daughters are 16 and they'd like to get the jab.
It should be offered as a matter of course to all girls, especially those that are not sexually active and haven't come into contact with HPV that way.
My niece died of cervical cancer a few months ago and I've seen how destructive the disease is.

[JAWS]

I could be wrong but i think the intention is to give the injections to the younger girls first and then make provision for girls up to the age of 18.
I'm sure a bit of checking will clarify the position.

As for the claims about it leading to promiscuity I hardly think the injection would even come in the first fifty things a young girl would stop to consider.
It's just the usual automatic knee-jerk reaction you get from some quarters when a certain three letter word is mentioned.

[horseman]

Fully with you on the male perspictive.

[j4bberw0ck]

Sexual promiscuity we already have,

I'd be looking to reduce the vaccination age to 10, and while we're at it inject a contraceptive which remains active until they're 25. And the same for males - HPV antibody vaccination, and spermicide resident to age 25.

On one level, I hate the idea of restricting people from doing what they want to do. On another, I'm sick to the back teeth of having to pay for yet another teenage girl to produce a baby because the State pays her to be a mother. Want more of something? Get the State to subsidise it. Child benefit, jumping housing queues....... all subsidies in one way, shape, or form.

[_Ju_]

Everytime I see someone on TV saying this vaccine promotes promiscuity I wonder if they are joking. Falling pregnant and getting potencially fatal STD's have not, in the last 20 years, made youngsters think twice, so why would not getting a vaccination make them do so? And what would not administering the vaccine acheive? The same or higher rate of cervical cancers that the NHS pays a fortune to treat and the loss of life, that cannot be quantified, of people that might or might not have made mistakes and bad choices when they were young.
What I see wrong with the decision to vaccinate is that it should be given at an earlier age ( maybe 9/10) and that boys DEFINATELY need to be vaccinated as well. They will be reservoirs of the virus if not.
The choices young people make about their lives (including sexual) are a direct reflection of how they were brought up and the close-ness of their families and communities.

[JAWS]

I suspect the promiscuity argument is very much a case of burying ones head in the sand. If you pretend something is not going to happen then it won't and if it does then it will happen to somebody else. "It would never happen to my "sugar and spice" daughter she's been brought up far too well."

Something has to be blamed for promiscuity and as soon as something new comes along there are always those who will eagerly grasp at it for a convenient excuse.

Ju, you are absolutely right about giving boys the vaccination as well, that makes a lot of sense.
I don't suppose many people had considered the "carrier" aspect, I know I certainly hadn't and the suggestion of the earlier age also makes sense.
I know it is something most of us would rather not think about but the possibility, however slight, is still there, even at that age.
I tend to be of the opinion that reality should take precedence over wishful thinking in such matters.

[debbie-zebbie]

[quote=j4bberw0ck;289267]Sexual promiscuity we already have,

I'd be looking to reduce the vaccination age to 10, and while we're at it inject a contraceptive which remains active until they're 25. And the same for males - HPV antibody vaccination, and spermicide resident to age 25.

I'm 24, married, and I've just had a beautiful baby. I'm glad I wasn't injected with your suggested product. I've been working for the state as a teacher for the past 4 years. I am an educated adult who decided to have a baby; not out to claim everything I can. I don't know why 25 is the magical age.

[_Ju_]

[quote=j4bberw0ck;289267]Sexual promiscuity we already have,

I'd be looking to reduce the vaccination age to 10, and while we're at it inject a contraceptive which remains active until they're 25. And the same for males - HPV antibody vaccination, and spermicide resident to age 25.

I'm 24, married, and I've just had a beautiful baby. I'm glad I wasn't injected with your suggested product. I've been working for the state as a teacher for the past 4 years. I am an educated adult who decided to have a baby; not out to claim everything I can. I don't know why 25 is the magical age.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I think that all us older foggies look back at the freedom years as the best of our lives and wish we had had more of them. And so hope that our children will put off growing up for as long as they (or we) can. And that is, I think, the spirit of the statement made.

I can absolutely tell you that my little boy (age 5) will not be allowed out onthe town on Saturday night untill he is at least 21 nor have a drivers license untill 35. Those are the magical ages at which I might consider him old enough to make his own decisions....;)


I hope I don't bury my head in the sand, though (as Jaws said, so many of us do). I would take issue with your comment being directed only at the daughters though...... it does take two to tango (mostly of opposite sexes). I hope I do a reasonable job that will give my son the tools to be responsible for his choices.