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Vaccine sparks promiscuity fears
Adam Cresswell, Health editor
27jan06
CALLS to make a world-first cervical cancer drug available to girls as young as nine have been criticised because of fears it would promote teenage promiscuity.
Trials of the vaccine, developed over 15 years by Australian of the Year Ian Frazer, showed it to be 100per cent effective in protecting women against infection with four strains of human papilloma virus that together cause 70per cent of cervical cancers.
But experts concede it raises sensitive issues because it cannot cure existing HPV infections and, for maximum effectiveness, it has to be given before women first become sexually active. As a result it is likely to be recommended for girls aged nine to 15.
The vaccine already has the backing of John Howard but Nationals senator Barnaby Joyce said MPs should be allowed to debate its "social implications".
Honouring Professor Frazer this week, the Prime Minister said he would discuss with federal Health Minister Tony Abbott making the vaccine, to be marketed under the brand name Gardasil, available to young women across Australia.
"We are looking at the implications of that and I expect to be talking to Mr Abbott about it quite soon," Mr Howard said.
The vaccine's maker, CSL, lodged an application last month to allow the sale of the vaccine in Australia with the Therapeutic Goods Administration. The TGA will consider the issue in June.
If approved, it could be available privately in the second half of this year at an expected cost of up to $400 for a three-dose course.
An application for a Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme subsidy would be likely shortly afterwards.
But Senator Joyce said the decision whether to approve the vaccine should not be left to the TGA because "they will talk about the therapeutic aspects - they are not there to talk about the psychological implications or the social implications".
"There might be an overwhelming (public) backlash from people saying, 'don't you dare put something out there that gives my 12-year-old daughter a licence to be promiscuous'," he said.
Senator Joyce - who has four daughters - said he would be "personally very circumspect" about giving such a vaccine to girls who were too young to cope with the potential consequences of sexual activity.
But others said young women should not be denied a life-saving vaccine.
Susan Robertson of Melbourne said she would not hesitate to give her three daughters the vaccine if it was shown to be safe.
"I don't see why parents would feel uneasy ... personally I would have absolutely no qualms protecting my daughters against anything that I could," she said.
Gerry Wain, director of gynaecological oncology at Sydney's Westmead Hospital - who also chairs CSL's advisory board on Gardasil - said statistics showed girls in Australia were now often sexually active at the age of 15 and parents were "putting their heads in the sand" to pretend otherwise.
"Sooner or later parents have to confront the fact their children will become sexually active ... no parent wants their children to die from cervical cancer," he said.
CSL's director of public affairs Rachel David said young children were already vaccinated against rubella - which can cause abnormalities in a developing fetus - "but we are not suggesting they will go and become pregnant".
"Vaccination is something we have adjusted to as a society - it's an important health measure," Dr David said.
Adam Cresswell, Health editor
27jan06
CALLS to make a world-first cervical cancer drug available to girls as young as nine have been criticised because of fears it would promote teenage promiscuity.
Trials of the vaccine, developed over 15 years by Australian of the Year Ian Frazer, showed it to be 100per cent effective in protecting women against infection with four strains of human papilloma virus that together cause 70per cent of cervical cancers.
But experts concede it raises sensitive issues because it cannot cure existing HPV infections and, for maximum effectiveness, it has to be given before women first become sexually active. As a result it is likely to be recommended for girls aged nine to 15.
The vaccine already has the backing of John Howard but Nationals senator Barnaby Joyce said MPs should be allowed to debate its "social implications".
Honouring Professor Frazer this week, the Prime Minister said he would discuss with federal Health Minister Tony Abbott making the vaccine, to be marketed under the brand name Gardasil, available to young women across Australia.
"We are looking at the implications of that and I expect to be talking to Mr Abbott about it quite soon," Mr Howard said.
The vaccine's maker, CSL, lodged an application last month to allow the sale of the vaccine in Australia with the Therapeutic Goods Administration. The TGA will consider the issue in June.
If approved, it could be available privately in the second half of this year at an expected cost of up to $400 for a three-dose course.
An application for a Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme subsidy would be likely shortly afterwards.
But Senator Joyce said the decision whether to approve the vaccine should not be left to the TGA because "they will talk about the therapeutic aspects - they are not there to talk about the psychological implications or the social implications".
"There might be an overwhelming (public) backlash from people saying, 'don't you dare put something out there that gives my 12-year-old daughter a licence to be promiscuous'," he said.
Senator Joyce - who has four daughters - said he would be "personally very circumspect" about giving such a vaccine to girls who were too young to cope with the potential consequences of sexual activity.
But others said young women should not be denied a life-saving vaccine.
Susan Robertson of Melbourne said she would not hesitate to give her three daughters the vaccine if it was shown to be safe.
"I don't see why parents would feel uneasy ... personally I would have absolutely no qualms protecting my daughters against anything that I could," she said.
Gerry Wain, director of gynaecological oncology at Sydney's Westmead Hospital - who also chairs CSL's advisory board on Gardasil - said statistics showed girls in Australia were now often sexually active at the age of 15 and parents were "putting their heads in the sand" to pretend otherwise.
"Sooner or later parents have to confront the fact their children will become sexually active ... no parent wants their children to die from cervical cancer," he said.
CSL's director of public affairs Rachel David said young children were already vaccinated against rubella - which can cause abnormalities in a developing fetus - "but we are not suggesting they will go and become pregnant".
"Vaccination is something we have adjusted to as a society - it's an important health measure," Dr David said.
