Missouri sets legal precedent in United States
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| HPV vaccination given at the Grace Hill Health Center in St. Louis. |
Because of an $11 million grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health (MFH), 30,000 uninsured and underinsured girls and women in the state can receive the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine for free.
Through MFH, the vaccine is available at 125 distribution sites in 84 Missouri counties and the St. Louis area, including the Jefferson County Health Department and the Great Mines Health Center in De Soto."This is not happening in any other state in the country," MFH spokesperson Bev Pfeifer-Harms said.
The vaccine, Gardasil, prevents cervical cancer caused by various forms of HPV--types 6, 11, 16 and 18. The vaccine is given in three doses during six months, totaling about $360.
Pfeifer-Harms said the grant was designed to make the vaccine financially available to every female between the ages of 9 and 26, helping those who fall between the gaps of Medicaid, company insurers and Missouri's Vaccines or Children Program.
Director of the Jefferson County Health Department Dennis Diehl said that the department has information about the vaccine for those who stop by the offices. Clients are asked about their qualifications to find out if they are interested in receiving the vaccine for free. He said the department is trying to get word out.
Director of Clinical Services Cindy Finley of Great Mines Health Center said that "the vaccine is very important in the fight against cervical cancer" and the center hopes to vaccinate as many women as it can.
According to MFH, HPV types 16 and 18 cause about 70 percent of HPV-related cervical cancers. In Missouri 7.9 per 100,000 women develop cervical cancer with a mortality rate of 2.2 per 100,000 women. HPV types 6 and 11 cause about 90 percent of genital warts.
Still, Pfeifer-Harms said that MFH hasn't seen as much of a response as the group had hoped.
"The issue is one of education," Pfeifer-Harms said.
Gardasil is still new, approved by the Food and Drug Administration in June 2006. Pfeiffer-Harms believes that as the vaccine becomes better known more girls and women will take advantage of its availability through the MFH grant.
"Eventually we'll get there," Pfeifer-Harms said.
De Soto High School nurse Cathy Schanz said that the school has not officially encouraged students to get the vaccine, but she has had five or six inquiries about it and is willing to answer questions. While some students have had the vaccine, Schanz said that she leaves it up to doctors to encourage parents. She presents facts only.
Similarly, Fox School District head nurse Gee Palmer said that Fox only enforces mandatory immunizations. The vaccine is still so new that schools have not encouraged students to get the vaccine but leave it up to the discretion of the parents.
Washington, D.C., and 25 states have at least introduced legislation involving HPV vaccination, most requiring immunization before entering a certain year of school or by a particular age. Legislation requiring girls to receive the vaccine before entering the sixth grade in Missouri is still pending.
A MFH sister foundation in Kansas City opened up 12 additional distribution sites to further the availability of the vaccine.
"We wish everyone was already vaccinated," Pfeifer-Harms said.
More information about HPV, Gardasil or MFH can be found on the MFH Web site at www.mffh.org.
