GWU DHP News
For Immediate Release
Jan. 18, 2007
CONTACT: Thomas Kohout 202-994-0468
Alexandra Stewart, JD, 202-530-2331
Washington, DC -- If legislation introduced last week in the
District of Columbia becomes law, young women will be required
to be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV) by the
time they enter the sixth grade. Maryland, Virginia, West
Virginia, California, Kentucky and South Carolina are also
poised to consider similar legislation. HPV is the primary cause
of cervical cancer.
To place those proposals in a broader context, a new paper
reviews some of the scientific, legal, ethical and financial
issues surrounding the HPV vaccine and compulsory vaccinations.
The paper, HPV Vaccine: Recommendation or Mandate?, is being
issued through the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health, which
is affiliated with the School of Public Health and Health
Services at The George Washington University.
The paper concludes:
- State laws that require immunization as a condition of
enrollment in school increase the use of vaccines, reduce
disease, lessen racial disparities in vaccine coverage and
increase available funding. According to a recent New
England Journal of Medicine (December 7, 2006) commentary,
"Requiring HPV vaccination by law will almost certainly
achieve more widespread protection against the disease than
will policies that rely exclusively on persuasion and
education." - Surveys have generally shown that young women are very
interested in getting the HPV vaccine, that parents are
willing to have their children vaccinated, and that
clinicians are inclined to offer the vaccine in their
practices. Both the American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists and the American Academy of Pediatrics endorse
the use of the vaccine by their members. - Experts emphasize the importance of creating immunization
opportunities. Adolescents, especially from minority and
low-income communities, have poorer access to care than any
other population in the United States. A voluntary HPV
vaccine is less likely to reach adolescents in medically
underserved communities, contributing to further health
disparities. - Concerns about individual liberties, patient autonomy, and
parental rights, and attitudes towards adolescent sexuality,
generally underlie objections to an HPV vaccine mandate. - Whether or not the HPV vaccine becomes mandatory, existing
financing mechanisms will leave some women without coverage
for it, forcing them either to pay hundreds of dollars
out-of-pocket, or to go without potentially lifesaving
protection.
A copy of the report is available at: http://www.gwumc.edu/sphhs
/~hpv [1]. For more information about the HPV vaccine: Alexandra
Stewart, JD, Assistant Research Professor, Department of Health
Policy, School of Public Health and Health Services, The George
Washington University, 2021 K Street, N.W., Suite 800,
Washington, DC 20006, 202-530-2331, stewarta@gwu.edu [1]
This report is the first in a series of White Papers to be
issued by the School of Public Health and Health Services
through its Rapid Public Health Policy Response Project--a
project which will provide swift, data-driving reports on
breaking public health-related news.
The George Washington University Medical Center is an
internationally recognized interdisciplinary academic health
center that has consistently provided high quality medical care
in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area for 176 years. The
Medical Center comprises the School of Medicine and Health
Sciences, the 11th oldest medical school in the country; the
School of Public Health and Health Services, the only such
school in the nation's capital; GW Hospital, jointly owned and
operated by a partnership between The George Washington
University and Universal Health Services, Inc.; and the GW
Medical Faculty Associates, an independent faculty practice
plan. For more information on GWUMC, visit www.gwumc.edu [2]