HPV is the cause of cervical cancer, and now the group, Women In Government, which represents women state legislators, says all girls should take the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved vaccine.
Michigan state Senator Beverly Hammerstrom (R-Temperance), Michigan's Majority Floor Leader and Chair of the Senate Health Policy Committee, explains, "The only way to ensure that as many girls as possible receive the HPV vaccine is to require it before they enter middle school."
"Vaccines can save lives and policymakers have a responsibility to ensure access for constituents to these preventive technologies. I have significant support from my colleagues in the legislature on this issue and look forward to working with them to pass this bill."
According to the group, in June, the FDA approved an HPV vaccine, known as Gardasil, for girls and women aged 9 through 26. A federal advisory panel subsequently voted to recommend its routine use in girls aged 11 and 12. The vaccine has been shown in clinical trials to be 100 percent effective at preventing disease from the two types of HPV that are responsible for approximately 70 percent of all cervical cancers.
Susan Crosby, president of Women In Government explains, "The availability of an HPV vaccine brings us one step closer to making cervical cancer the first cancer we can eliminate."
"However, to truly achieve this goal, we must make FDA-approved HPV vaccines available to all age-appropriate girls and women. That is what our recommendations, including the middle school entry requirement, are designed to do."
Women in Government says since 2004, 45 states have introduced legislation or resolutions tackling this issue, and hopes to do more with its "Challenge to Eliminate Cervical Cancer Campaign."
