Andrews Family

Texas made national headlines a couple of weeks ago when Governor Rick Perry issued an executive order requiring girls entering the 6th grade to receive the new human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine. (See article here.) HPV is a sexually transmitted disease that is the cause of almost all cervical cancer and this vaccine protects against the two strains of HPV that cause about 70% of cervical cancer. The Governor’s order prompted a wide range of questions. Is it safe? How long is it effective? Does the Governor really have the authority to do that?  All good questions, but that’s not the question that I’m alluding to in the title. 

If HPV is such a big problem, why didn’t most people know about it before the vaccine? Why wasn’t everyone promoting condoms to prevent cervical cancer? Why were condom promoters trying to deny the link between HPV and cervical cancer? Maybe that’s because condoms aren’t effective against HPV; 50% risk reduction or less. So maybe now you should be wondering just how effective condoms are against other STDs. Take a look at the facts on The Medical Institutes’s website here.

I think the HPV vaccine could be a good thing, but I hope the debate over the vaccine doesn’t overshadow the issue of sexual health and education. Often people just consider that a moral or religious debate, but regardless of moral and religious arguments, the scientific facts show the need for abstinence education.