Vaccines for virgins only: why the HPV jab should be free to all
The government has decided that every girl over the age of 18 is too sexually promiscuous for the HPV vaccination to be economically effective.
The HPV virus is one of the most prevalent causers of cervical cancer. Every year, 1,100 women die from the disease. The only way to discover whether you carry the virus is to be tested. The government has rejected calls to lower the age of eligibility for a smear test from 25 to 20 years old in England. The Government is abandoning those between the ages of 18 and 25 because we are all too busy having unprotected, rampant sex to have time to book a vaccination.
The point is that we’re not. Our generation has had the phrase “use a condom” drilled into us since we were around nine years old. We’ve put them on bananas and filled them with water. Condoms are available everywhere and most are aware of the fact that if you have unprotected sex then you risk a disease or pregnancy. Indeed, those seeking the vaccination are conscientious enough to take steps to protect themselves and should be encouraged instead of denied based on financial grounds alone.
The statistics are frightening. Various strains of the HPV virus can cause anal, vulval, vaginal, and penile cancers as well as, bizarrely, head and neck cancer. If a vaccination which is 99% effective exists, it should be freely distributed. However, the Department of Health maintains that it is “not cost effective” to do so.
A study in Lancet Medical Journal provides evidence about the benefits of the vaccination. In the 4,000 women taking part, over 91% of those in the study reacted positively.
Although girls can be prescribed the vaccination, a spokesperson stated that this would only happen if there was “an exceptional clinical need.” This had led to a series of rumours about how you can receive the vaccine if you claim you’re a virgin, obscuring people’s sexual history from the people who need to know it most.
This is frankly ridiculous. Like the MMR and the BCG, the vaccination should be made compulsory and available to everyone who wants it. Economically, it is far less expensive to provide an injection than it is to treat someone with cancer. I fail to see why the government continues to ignore this issue.
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2 articles on HPV Vaccination you might want to read. One from the
NHS, the other by a leading female gynaecologist in London which goes into detail about all aspects of the
HPV vaccination