About Two-Thirds Of Doses Ordered For South Dakota's Voluntary, No-Cost HPV Vaccination Program Administered, Health Secretary Says

Main Category: Cervical Cancer / HPV Vaccine
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 05 Sep 2007 - 13:00 PDT

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About two-thirds of the 30,720 doses of Merck's human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil purchased by the South Dakota government this year have been administered, Health Secretary Doneen Hollingsworth said at a recent meeting with a legislative committee, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reports (Woster, Sioux Falls Argus Leader, 8/29). Gardasil in clinical trials has been shown to be 100% effective in preventing infection 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 HPV strains 16 and 18 cause about 90% of genital wart cases, among women not already infected with these strains. The vaccine is administered in three doses (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 7/11).

Gov. Mike Rounds (R) in January announced that South Dakota would provide HPV vaccines at no cost to females ages 11 to 18, and in March he signed into law a bill (HB 1061) that authorizes $9.2 million in funding for the program (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 3/22). Hollingsworth said that about 19,000 of the 30,720 doses ordered by the state have been administered as of last week. She added that the state cannot determine how many people have been vaccinated under the program because of its three-dose administration.

According to Hollingsworth, there are about 44,000 11- to 18-year-old girls and women living in the state. Rep. Larry Tidemann (R) asked Hollingsworth if the health department would consider reaching 12,000 youths through the program "a success." Hollingsworth replied, "Yes, it would" (Sioux Falls Argus Leader, 8/29).

Reprinted with kind 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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