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Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Should boys take Gardasil to protect girls from cancer?
The cervical cancer vaccine will soon be approved for boys. They can’t get cervical cancer, but it would help protect the women they have sex with later.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We had several side discussions last week about whether mothers will be giving their daughters the Gardasil vaccine to help prevent cervical cancer. (Here’s the link to the side discussion — it looks like Kat’s 11:02 comment is the first mention.)
Gardasil helps protect women from the human papillomavirus (H.P.V.), which is sexually transmitted. The vaccine is approved for girls as young as 9 but is recommended for 11 to 12 year olds.
The upside being the vaccine helps prevent cervical cancer. The downside being it’s acknowledging that at some point in the future your young sweet daughter will probably be having sex.
Up until now, it’s only been moms of girls that have been faced with this quandary but according to a recent New York Times story moms of boys will soon have to address the issue as well. (Here’s the full story.)
The New York Times reports, “By 2009, the vaccine could be approved for boys as well. Although Gardasil also protects against genital warts, which are not life-threatening, the primary reason to extend approval to boys would be to slow the rates of cervical cancer. Public health folks charmlessly call this ‘herd immunity.’ ”
“Will parents of sons consent to a three-shot regimen that has been marketed as benefiting girls? How do you pitch that to Gardasil Boy’s parents?”
“Think altruism. Responsibility. Chivalry, even? Oh, and yes: some explicit details about genital warts and sexual transmission.”
So the question is: Moms of boys — will you vaccinate your boys to help protect the girls?
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