Let parents decide on inoculation of children

One of my favorite features of a daily newspaper is the obituary section. That's for two reasons. It's how I got my start in this business, and the obituaries fascinating reading. They also can be very depressing. I'm particularly saddened by the deaths of young people — from any cause — and those of people in the prime of life who are struck down by cancer.

We used to think of cancer in terms of "How long do I have to live?" In my youth, childhood leukemia seemed to be the only cancer that medical science could tackle. Now the knowledge base has literally exploded. The treatments at many facilities are practically tailor-made for patients. Now when someone is diagnosed with cancer, we ask "What kind of treatment is available?" Cancer still kills about 500,000 Americans a year, though.

Now, there is a vaccine available to prevent cervical cancer, which is caused by the human papillomavirus. The vaccine is being marketed to girls and women ages 9 to 26. Clinical trials show that the vaccine is effective against the strains of human papillomavirus that cause about 70 percent of cervical cancer cases. It is also highly effective against the particular strains of HPV that cause genital warts.

Staving off one form of cancer with a series of three vaccines is a fairly mind-blowing development in the fight against cancer. What parent wouldn't want to inoculate his or her daughter from this form of cancer, which can conceivably become deadly?

Turns out there are plenty. They have a raft of reasons, ranging from they are uncomfortable with girls as young as 9 being educated about these issues, to parental choice and, my personal favorite, that young women who receive this vaccine will view it as the green light to be promiscuous.

Of the three arguments, parental choice resonates most with me. Some states have mandated this vaccine, either through legislation or administrative order. Parents, not surprisingly, have balked. Even those who see the wisdom of preventing a form of cancer don't want this achieved by the heavy hand of government mandate.

I'm a big believer in the public health benefits of vaccine programs, but as a mother, I would want the decision whether to be inoculated with this vaccine to be a family decision. Likewise for deciding when to tell our children about this vaccine and HPV. If your children watch television, chances are they've seen commercials for these vaccines, marketed under the names Gardasil and Cervarix. If they have older siblings, chances are they've heard them talking about this issue with their peers.