Broad Support for Vaccine That Could Prevent Cervical Cancer
June 30, 2005 — -- Use of a vaccine that may prevent human papilloma virus, a sexually transmitted disease that can cause cancer, outweighs the risk of possibly promoting promiscuity, say two Christian groups.
"Even though we believe that abstinence is the best way to prevent any sexual disease before marriage and in the younger years of the girl's life, we do support a vaccination that would prevent this horrible disease from taking the lives of our young girls, mothers and grandmothers in their later years," Roberta Combs, president of the Christian Coalition of America, said in a statement.
Medical experts are applauding the vaccine, which is still being tested. They believe it would prevent the 70 percent of cervical cancer cases that are caused by two strains of HPV, according to MedlinePlus, a division of the National Library of Medicine. It is designed primarily for pre-pubescent girls not yet exposed to the virus.
At least 20 million people in the United States are infected with HPV, according to the American Social Health Association. The virus has no obvious symptoms and is typically diagnosed by a Pap test.
About 10,370 cases of invasive cervical cancer will be diagnosed in the United States this year, and about 3,710 women will die from it, according to the American Cancer Society. Between 60 and 80 percent of those with cervical cancer haven't had a Pap test in the past five years, ACS statistics show.
Pia de Solenni, director of life and women's issues for the Family Research Council, an organization dedicated to upholding "the institutions of marriage and family," says a vaccine is not the solution.
"The situation they are trying to remedy with the vaccine is one that ultimately requires some type of behavior modification," said de Solenni. "Abstinence until marriage and fidelity in marriage."
But she said the vaccine "is one step in treating the cancer."
"We're not against the vaccine per se, we're concerned that the educational component be in place," said de Solenni.
