| Women In Government: In the New HPV Vaccine Era, What Women Need to Know About Cervical Cancer Prevention | | Posted Friday, September 29, 2006 3:00:14 PM by Blog57 Team | | WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- September is Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month and Women In Government, a non-profit, bi-partisan organization of women state legislators, advocates that cervical cancer can be the first cancer we eliminate -- provided women are armed with accurate information about the disease and have access to advanced and appropriate preventive technologies. "The new FDA-approved vaccine against the human papillomavirus, or HPV -- the cause of cervical cancer -- offers a critical new tool in fighting this disease," said Susan Crosby, president of Women In Government. "Screening, though, is still extremely important for all women." An HPV vaccine was recently approved for girls and young women aged 9 through 26. A federal advisory panel subsequently voted to recommend its routine use in girls aged 11 and 12 and, as appropriate, for the other approved age groups.... | |
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| | | Fighting Cancer in School | | Posted Saturday, August 19, 2006 12:56:38 AM by Blog57 Team | | LOS ANGELES MIDDLE SCHOOLERS will have the chance to benefit from an extraordinary medical breakthrough when they return to class in a few weeks: The L.A. Unified School District will make available to female students the first vaccine to protect against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer. The vaccine, approved in June by the Food and Drug Administration, is most effective when given to girls before they become sexually active. Distributing a vaccine for a sexually transmitted disease to 11- and 12-year-old girls, as the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends, may be controversial in some quarters. But the health benefits are too great to ignore. And the district, which plans to distribute the vaccine when it becomes available this fall, will allow parents who object to the vaccine to opt out.... | |
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| | | Cervical cancer vaccine approved in Canada | | Posted Thursday, July 20, 2006 6:58:18 PM by Blog57 Team | | Health Canada has approved a vaccine that protects against the human papilloma virus, or HPV, which is responsible for most cases of cervical cancer, the vaccine's manufacturer announced Tuesday. Gardasil is the first vaccine that can prevent cervical cancer. (CBC) HPV is said to infect half of all sexually active women between ages 18 and 22 in North America. In most women, the virus clears up on its own, but if the infection persists, it can lead to cervical cancer. "Until now, we have only been able to react to the effects of HPV in women," said Dr. Guylaine Lefebvre, president-elect of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada. "Now we are talking about preventing most of the serious diseases caused by HPV." This year in Canada, nearly 1,400 new cases of cervical cancer are expected and approximately 390 women will die from the disease.... | |
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