Decades in public health have taught me just how hard it is to communicate sound scientific information to the public through the media. I believe that our work got a lot harder as politicians took to the airwaves to politicize the HPV vaccine. I can't help but wonder how many millions of Americans are questioning the safety of what I feel is a valuable public health vaccine, based on no proof and no science.
The HPV vaccine does not cause mental retardation or any of the host of other maladies to which I believe people wrongly connected the vaccine to. But the vaccine does prevent cancer! It doesn't just "reduce your risk" -- it actually prevents it. A woman who is immune to HPV types 16 and 18 cannot get HPV-16 and HPV-18 related cervical cancer. And right now those represent 70 percent of all cervical cancers.
A few decades ago, the polio vaccine was introduced and the public hailed it as miraculous -- which it was and still is. But now, I believe that our politicians are taking a miraculous vaccine that prevents cancer and using it for political gain. In my opinion, it is shameful to take a public health issue and hijack it for political reasons.
Besides cervical cancer, HPV causes many other types of cancer including throat cancers that are rising dramatically in young and middle-aged men. HPV might also increase your risk of developing skin cancer. And yes, it also causes other genitourinary cancers -- cancer of the penis, anus, vulva and vagina. But those are the locations that lead us back into the world of politics, I'm afraid.
Some in the public health community believe that the dramatic rise in throat cancer means that we are teetering on the precipice of a cancer pandemic. But instead of talking about out how we can use the HPV vaccine to save lives and health-care dollars, our politicians are using public health policy to batter each other in front of a rapt audience.
The benefits of the HPV vaccine are not speculation. We have proof that the HPV vaccine works. Australia was one of the first countries to introduce the HPV vaccination, and has achieved much higher vaccination rates than we have in the United States. As a result, Australia has seen a 50 percent decrease in the incidence of high-grade cervical abnormalities (that is, pre-cancerous changes in the cervix) in females age 17 and younger. Australia has given its young women a chance to avoid a deadly form of cancer that has an average age of onset of 50.
The people making political hay out of HPV vaccination in this country will not be around in 30 years to be held accountable by today's young women when they face cervical cancer diagnoses. I believe that we need to hold them accountable today. Those running for office may deliver innuendo instead of facts on other topics, but I believe that we cannot allow them to do that with the public's health.
William Schaffner, M.D., President of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases
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The problem that the HPV vaccine faces has more to do with the fear of sexual independence of women than politicization or pharma/govt collusion, but nobody will own up to that fact. I think Michele Bachmann's anecdotal phrasing is really tell, "little 12 year old girls"... inherent in that is a belief that 12 year olds haven't been exposed to the world, that they are perfectly innocent, etc.
There is a belief in a pre-1950s idyllic existence that never was: it was a world without abortion, teen pregnancy, depressed people, racism, hunger, disease, etc.
So really the politicizing of the HPV vaccine is a yearning for a simpler time by people who see the world in very black and white terms.
http://www.therealessentials.com/bird-flu-hoax-rumsfeld.html
We relinquished the role of "public health" to for-profit greed-driven executives and out of the hands of health professionals untainted by the profit motive when we had taxpayer-funded research taken private to enrich a few when the many paid for the research break-through; now those profit motivated corporations do not focus on the mundane life-saving drugs or vaccines, but primarily on the expensive (at least to the consumer) big-money items, TV drug-pushing and selling fear.
The lack of up-to-date infrastructure like up-to-date computers, radars & other equipment jeopardize our civil aviation, for one example.
Medicare that doesn't cover dental & vision care jeopardize many disabled and seniors' health every day.
Raising Part D premiums, deductibles & co-pays when the Social Security COLA has a negative effect on the health of the disabled & seniors who have to pay those fees out of an average benefit of $12K/year. Currently the premiums for Parts B/D alone take out a minimum of $1345/year out of Social Security benefits.
The Congress decided the CPI measure that does not take into effect food, energy/utility rises or even the premium/deductible/co-pay rises that the private insurance companies in Part D have received over the past 3 years of SS benefit freeze. It will be worse next year in the 4th year of SS benefit freeze.
How else did that come about except by politicization??
There is a significant percentage of the US population which believes that some or all of the following are usually or always lying: the FDA, drug companies, doctors, and any scientist doing medical research. These people turn for medical advice to new "authorities" including people with questionable or no credentials. Their lack of credentials even becomes an endorsement of their authority because the "established medical profession" must be trying to "suppress the truth". Lately, unconfirmed first-person reports on the web have become another kind of authority. For an example of this kind of thinking, Bachmann treats as an important fact to be shared with the public, a brief conversation with someone she doesn't know at all and has no idea as to the truthfulness of the story she is told.
This kind of thinking has led to increasing numbers of children not being vaccinated for various diseases because their parents believe the vaccines cause a huge number of physical ailments. The problem is that the majority of the public has no way to verify the validity of people who are making various factual claims, and for many, they will go with the person who seems the most confident of their claims. Since many scientists give nuanced answers instead of soundbites, they come off as less reliable.
There is a second and largely overlapping subset who blush like preschoolers whenever a discussion arises that involves our "naughty bits".
It is a perfect storm of an Evangelical mindset that cannot reconcile God with intelligence.
Why would God give us a brain and then forbid that we use it?
Doctor with due respects actually our capital system has Capitalized our Public Health System. Our present CE tried to hard for public health welfare for all Americans and all we heard from the Tea Partiers and the Elephanters that the CE has embarked on to Socialized Public Heath, There is so much money to make in Public Health Care that our Legalized fraternity want that Public Health should be opened to our benevolent justice system for malpractices --- the list goes on --- Politicized Healthcare -----Capitalized healthcare-- Socialized healthcare- legalized healthcare --- do you see how the public is left out from these labelized Our dear Public Health Care System --- no wonder they are of the opinion also that our Health Care system should be PRIVATIZED100% INDEED --- we are indeed guaranteed so many privileges and rights in the declaration I was trying to see if Healthcare was also included or not. Until it is all PUBLICIZED about the special interests groups and their Fiscal Health who lobby and influence legislation about Public Healthcare we would never be Polarized on the Public Health --- I can see that indeed that we have not " Politicized Our Public Health?' after all the legislative ramblings of the past 2 1/2 years what holds for future only God Knows.l
This is not about any other vaccine and the risks, real or imagined.
"A few decades ago, the polio vaccine was introduced and the public hailed it as miraculous -- which it was and still is. But now, I believe that our politicians are taking a miraculous vaccine that prevents cancer and using it for political gain. In my opinion, it is shameful to take a public health issue and hijack it for political reasons."
There's an implication that we should have very widespread immunization. The next obvious question is 'are you supporting a mandate'?
The last real cure we had was for Polio I believe, since then it is all about treatment and generating Return Customers. I simply can not trust our Drug companies.
It really is that simple.
I suggest you read the report recently on All Things Considered.
http://www.npr.org/2011/09/13/140432995/doctors-counter-vaccine-fears-in-pacific-northwest
Vaccines are intended for not only the good of the individual, but the good of the community. See, when a rich, generally healthy, unvaccinated kid gets whooping cough, his parents can take care of him. When a poor, generally unhealthy, unvaccinated kid catches it from said rich, generally healthy kid, that poor kid can die. That poor kid can pass it on to other poor kids.
If my doctor tells me I need a booster every 10 years of so, so be it. Same goes for my kids, same goes for my community.
But the problem here is that you combine the words 12 year old, sex, and medical procedure, and it is just too hard for a conservative to resist using it for their advantage. And the voters are not intellectually curious enough to put in an effort to distinguish between a fact or lie.
It is an uphill battle for sure.
Very little happens in this country without SOMEONE making a profit from it. To understand a policy, it is necessary to follow the (mostly hidden) money trail and see where it leads.
Right now, there are efforts being made to roll back or eliminate the EPA, because it's an example of "job killing" government regulations.
3% of Americans die each year in the US from the effects of air pollution, (under current rules). http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/412202
Why? Is it that we don't know HOW to reduce pollution? Nope.
It's not cost effective.
In other words, it cuts down on profits.
When push comes to shove, Government policy puts profits ahead of the lives of 10's of thousands of its own citizens.
Not a problem, as long as it's one of "those people", and nobody WE know personally? Like Campaign fund contributors?
Maybe before complaining about Health Care Reform creating "Death Panels", we should take a hard look at the ones that already exist...............in Congress.