MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – Lawmakers want to cut down on Vermont’s high rate of cervical cancer by requiring that schoolgirls be inoculated against the virus that causes the disease.
Vermont has the highest per capita rate of women dying of cervical cancer in the United States, said Rep. Denise Barnard, D-Chittenden.
She has introduced a bill that would require human papillomavirus vaccinations for girls before they enter sixth grade. It would also provide for immunizations for all 11-year-olds, with the state paying for uninsured recipients.
The vaccine Gardasil protects against the two types of HPV responsible for about 70 percent of cervical cancer cases.
Texas became the first state to require the vaccination and Maine is considering similar legislation.
Educating females about the disease also is a priority, Bernard said.
“It starts with the pediatric doctors, the gynecologists, and the woman,” he said. “If we educate ourselves and we’re asking the right questions, women will not die of this dreadful disease.”
A panel formed two years ago to study the disease found that young women are not the only ones at risk.
“In Vermont, 94 percent of newly diagnosed cervical cancer cases are in women age 30 and older; 30 percent of these cases are in women 65 and older, with women aged 75-79 having the highest age-specific incidence of cervical cancer,” the report said.
The task force also concluded that uninsured women are at a greater risk for the disease because they are more likely to miss annual Pap smear exams, which can detect precancerous lesions and early cancer.
The state has received 5,000 doses, making the $360 vaccine available for free to those eligible for Vermont’s Medicaid program, said Sharon Moffatt, acting commissioner of health.
Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Vermont, the state’s second largest insurer, said it covers a portion of the cost of the vaccine.
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Information from: The Times Argus, http://www.timesargus.com/
AP-ES-02-11-07 1427EST
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