Texas HPV vaccine advocates launch campaign
Hoping to increase vaccination rates in Texas for the human papillomavirus, or HPV, a group of health professionals Tuesday announced the launch of a new education effort.
Ninety percent of HPV cases go away on their own within two years, according the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but some forms of HPV can cause cervical and other types of cancer. Experts say getting the vaccine is a way to tamp down chances of getting one of those cancers. Each year, about 31,500 men and women in the U.S. are diagnosed with a cancer caused by HPV. There is no treatment for HPV infection, but vaccination and screening can prevent most HPV-related cancers.
But in Texas, where battles over vaccination have been politically charged, only 33 percent of children aged 13 to 17 have been vaccinated for HPV — leaving the state ranked 47th among states for HPV vaccination rates.
“The HPV vaccine is cancer prevention,” said Greg Parkington, senior manager for state health systems for the American Cancer Society. “Texas represents the single largest opportunity in the country to raise HPV vaccine rates and help protect children against six types of cancer. The vaccine is safe and highly effective. If all 11- and 12-year-olds were vaccinated, an estimated 90 percent of HPV cancers could be prevented, amounting to more than 29,000 fewer cancers per year. Today we are saying Texas can do better to save lives and protect more people from HPV-related cancers.”