Ontario launches HPV vaccination program

Ontario launches HPV vaccination program


www.chinaview.cn 2007-08-03 09:58:30 Print


The Gardasil vaccine is seen in this undated handout photo released June 8, 2006. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)


BEIJING, Aug. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- Free vaccines will be offered to Grade 8 girls this fall in Canada's most populous province to protect against cervical cancer, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty annoucned Thursday.

"Cervical cancer is a devastating disease that affects far too many women in Ontario," he said in a statement announcing the 39 million U.S. dollar program. "We're providing this vaccine to women at a young age so we can help prevent the spread of HPV and save lives."

Ontario will offer the vaccine against human papilloma virus (HPV), a cause of cervical cancer, on a voluntary basis to 84,000 school girls aged 13 and 14.

Every year in Ontario, about 500 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 140 die from the disease. In Canada, 400 women die from the cancer annually.

The federal government approved the routine vaccine of young girls in July 2006 to protect against two types of HPV that are responsible for about 70 percent of cervical cancer cases in Canada. Many governments around the world have endorsed the same concept.

However, there are many questions left unanswered about the vaccine.

In a commentary published online in the Canadian Medical Association Journal on Wednesday, a group of experts said the reported vaccine trials of Gardasil, manufactured by Merck & Co. Inc., had been funded wholly, or in part, by the manufacturer.

They also warned that without a public education campaign, misunderstandings about the vaccine could lead teenagers to practice unsafe sex.

(Agencies)


Editor: Wang Yan