Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report Summarizes Editorials, Opinion Pieces On Merck's HPV Vaccine Gardasil

Main Category: Sexual Health / STDs
Also Included In: Cancer / Oncology;  Cervical Cancer / HPV Vaccine;  Immune System / Vaccines
Article Date: 23 Jun 2006 - 9:00 PDT

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FDA earlier this month approved Merck's human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil -- which is given in three injections over six months and will cost $360 -- for sale and marketing to girls and women ages nine to 26. According to Merck, Gardasil in clinical trials has been shown to be 100% effective in preventing infection in girls and women who do not already have HPV with HPV strains 16 and 18, which together cause about 70% of cervical cancer cases, and about 99% effective in preventing HPV strains 6 and 11, which together with strains 16 and 18 cause about 90% of genital wart cases. CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which drafts recommendations and schedules the administration of vaccines in the U.S., is scheduled on June 29 to review who should receive Gardasil. ACIP's HPV vaccine group has recommended giving the vaccine to girls ages 11 and 12. The 15-member ACIP also will consider recommending Gardasil for girls and women ages 13 to 26 (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 6/19). Several newspapers recently have published editorials and opinion pieces related to Gardasil's approval. Summaries appear below.

Editorials

• Philadelphia Inquirer: FDA delivered an "important victory" for girls and women by approving Gardasil, an Inquirer editorial says. "States can take many steps to make sure parents are fully informed" about HPV and the benefits of the vaccine, and they also can "take action to ensure that cost is not an obstacle to parents who want their children vaccinated," the editorial says. "Opting for the vaccination is a prudent way" to protect girls and women from cervical cancer, the editorial concludes (Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/19).
  


• Providence Journal: Although Gardasil "stands to save thousands of American lives annually, and even more lives across the globe, ... much will depend on how vigorously it is deployed," a Journal editorial says. The costs associated with the vaccine, the six-month administration schedule and issues surrounding providing the vaccine to adolescents -- including arguments that it might "promote promiscuity" -- could serve as "[o]bstacles" to providing widespread access to Gardasil, according to the editorial. "[D]epriving anyone of this life-saving vaccine for 'moral' purposes is a reckless roll of the dice," the editorial says, concluding, "The states will ultimately decide whether to require this vaccine. We hope they will embrace it, and that Merck will work with public health agencies to ensure that it reaches low-income women" (Providence Journal, 6/18).
  


• Tennessean: Parents should choose to have their daughters vaccinated with Gardasil -- which should be "widely heralded as a medical miracle" -- to protect them against cervical cancer, the editorial says, adding that parents should use health care advice rather than "moral guidance" when making their decision (Tennessean, 6/16).

Opinion Piece

• Laura Berman, Chicago Sun-Times: Although the approval of Gardasil is a "huge leap forward for women's health," there still are "some important questions that beg attention if the vaccine is to live up to its extraordinary potential," Berman, director of the Berman Center in Chicago, writes in a Sun-Times opinion piece. Issues surrounding access to the vaccine among young girls, older women and women who lack adequate health care or education need to be addressed, Berman writes. Gardasil's approval is the "most impressive development in women's health in a decade. It's nice to see Big Pharma and the FDA working to get something done for women," Berman concludes (Berman, Chicago Sun-Times, 6/19).

"Reprinted with permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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