No brainer, right? You’d think.
A vaccine has been developed that targets the virus that causes cervical cancer. This is a sexually transmitted disease (called HPV), and the cancer it can cause kills 274,000 women worldwide a year (about 1,120 in the UK). It is designed to be given to women aged between 9 – 26.
You’d think people would be queueing up to get the jab. But some parents are actually suggesting that this vaccine could promote underage sex.
Seriously.
The same thing happened in the US where this is already available, and in India, where the argument went “But doctor, my daughter isn’t having sex just now. Why does she need the vaccine?”
I really worry about this species sometimes.
My method of dealing with these sorts of arguments is to reduce them to their constituent points.
We have a hard enough time getting our kids to ask us for contraceptives before having sex. No woman is ever going to think “Oh I think I’ll have sex with Dan tonight, but I’m not protected against the HPV, so I’d better wait.”
Or to put it another way, if our kids can’t come to use and ask for contraceptive before becoming sexually active, why wouldn’t you immunise them against a sexually transmitted disease?!?
What is up with these parents? Are they off their axis?
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