Once the Food and Drug Administration grants final approval for the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine, as expected, "the fight is not over," says Legal Momentum staff attorney Julie F. Kay.
Our expectation is that the far right machine will gear up its disinformation and fear-mongering tactics all aimed at reducing availability of the vaccine (by threatening funding) and clouding the facts regarding the safety and the need for this vaccine."
A Food and Drug Administration panel has recommended that the FDA give approval to the vaccine, known as Gardasil. The Merck & Co. vaccine could prevent the world's most prevalent sexually transmitted infection. Gardasil targets four types of HPV, which doctors believe causes more than 70 percent of cervical cancer cases and 90 percent of genital warts. Statistics say almost 10 percent of students nationwide report having sex before the age of 13, about 40 percent by age 16, and 60 percent by age 17. Some doctors recommend that the vaccine be given to girls as young as ten years old to protect them well before they may become sexually active. "The health of women is at stake, we have a precious opportunity to save hundreds of women from a potentially deadly form of cancer," adds Kay. The FDA is expected to approve Gardasil next month.
Kay has been working on Legal Momentum's Sexuality and Family Rights Program where her charge is challenging gender bias and sex discrimination promoted by a federal "abstinence-only" sexual education program.
