Pakeha rejecting vaccine that can prevent cervical cancer

A vaccine tackling the virus that causes genital warts and cervical cancer has been proven to fight off infection – but many Pakeha families are rejecting immunisation, saying their girls don’t need it yet.

A study published in the latest New Zealand Medical Journal has found a major reduction in genital warts caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV) in Auckland thanks to the Gardasil vaccine’s introduction in 2008 – particularly among Maori and Pasifika girls.

Yet it also found almost half of the rest were not vaccinated against HPV.

Director of Public Health Caroline McElnay said the Ministry of Health found Pakeha parents supported the vaccine ‘‘in principle, but ... perceived the HPV vaccine as not for their daughters because of a perceived lack of sexual maturity’’.

Nationally, the figure for the latest group of Pakeha girls immunised was at 60 per cent – it was 43 per cent in 2008 – but it still had the lowest vaccine uptake of any other group.

The ministry has had to enhance its education campaign for parents, explaining the vaccine is for providing immunity before girls become sexually active.

Global documented opposition to Gardasil springs from fears it inspires promiscuity and claims of adverse health effects.

The study’s co-author, Jeannie Oliphant, said almost everyone was likely to be exposed to genital skin HPV types from first sexual contact onwards: ‘‘Which is why it is so important ... to have the vaccine before you become sexually active.’’

The study found, among Auckland girls who turned 14 in 2013, 77 per cent of Pasifika were vaccinated, 62 per cent of Maori and 52 per cent of ‘‘others’’.

The study found a 93.4 per cent reduction in genital warts among Maori/Pasifika girls, but 80.2 per cent among Pakeha.

Two particular HPV types can lead to cancer, and the original Gardasil vaccine provided protection against these types along with two other HPV types that cause genital warts. Since January, a reformulated vaccine, Gardasil 9, expands coverage to protect against nine HPV types.

It would take much longer to see if the warts decline is mirrored in cervical cancer, because the disease develops slowly, Oliphant said.

Maori women die from cervical cancer at a disproportionate rate, and the initial ministry Gardasil marketing focused on them.

Their vaccine uptake was ‘‘great news’’, as was the decision to extend it to boys from early this year, Oliphant said.

Immunisation expert Dr Helen Petousis-Harris said Gardasil 9 had the lowest uptake of any vaccine here, despite having among the best vaccine safety profiles globally.

She believed overseas media coverage of claimed adverse health effects may explain it, along with fear of chemicals, and moral discomfort.

Medically untrained parents who ‘‘researched’’ online were not educated in how to balance anecdote against statistics and risk, or determine reputable from fringe studies, she added.

‘‘It’s their child and people feel emotion – and I’m trying to come in with my graph or boring observational study and I’m competing with a personal story.

‘‘For a lot of people there’s just no comparison – they are going to side with the personal story, which makes sense to them.’’