Free HPV shot too expensive for many

Pharmacare does not cover Gardasil, which provides protection from two high-risk types of HPV that are linked to cervical cancer and two low-risk types of the virus that are linked to genital warts.

The province is committed to the vaccine, believing it's an important tool to fight cervical cancer.

In a government press release, Healthy Living Minister Kerri Irvin-Ross said the new HPV vaccine "adds to our cervical cancer prevention efforts to help protect Manitoba women and prevent this disease."

All this has some local parents fuming because they can't afford the drug.

"My child is not eligible to receive the new Gardasil vaccine and I am outraged," a Free Press reader said in an e-mail. "This vaccine has the benefit of lessening the chance of cancer for these girls later in life, so it is a proactive way to prevent a dreaded disease. Why shouldn't all of our girls have the opportunity to be vaccinated against the HPV virus?"

Good question. If you're wealthy -- or you have a good insurance plan at work -- your daughter can be protected. If you're not, $500 to vaccinate a single child is out of reach.

"We are a family of five with only one income because I am on disability," wrote the mom. "Is there not some program that can be set up for parents who wish to have their daughters given the vaccination?

"I can't believe the roadblocks to what I thought was going to be an excellent step for the girls of this province."

Valerie Mann, director of the communicable disease control branch of Manitoba Health, said Monday that Gardasil is a vaccine and our Pharmacare plan covers drugs. The decision to provide Gardasil free for only one grade level, she said, isn't "static".

"This is part of an overall cancer reduction strategy," she said.

Now, it's the parents' choice whether to sign their daughters up for the school vaccinations. Some folks are opting out. The province doesn't yet have statistics on how many Grade 6 girls have been vaccinated or how many other girls and young women have seen their doctors to obtain the vaccine.

In some parts of Canada, parents have protested having their little girls vaccinated because they think it sends the wrong message about early sexual activity.

So let's get it out in the open.

The only way to completely protect yourself from sexually transmitted infections is to abstain from sex. We know that. We also know many teenagers are having sex.

The province's website offers advice the average parent should be giving their children. Delaying the onset of sexual activity lessens your risk, as does limiting your number of partners. Condoms help prevent the spread of HPV and other STIs but they're not fail safe.

In Manitoba, girls in Grade 6 are eligible for free immunizations by public health nurses. The shots are voluntary and require parental consent.

The government isn't vaccinating children they believe are sexually active. It's trying to protect them from a virus they might come in contact with as they mature. About 1,400 Canadian women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year; HPV is considered a causal factor in all cases of these cancers.

So where's the two-tier part come in?

Not every Manitoban works for a company that offers health benefits. Indeed, not every Manitoban has a job. Even if you are working and have a plan, it's unlikely that the entire cost of the vaccination will be paid.

What happens when $500 to vaccinate a child is an impossibility, where that amount of money represents groceries for a month or a rent payment?

Average people and those who are struggling to make ends meet are going to have to deny their girls a chance to be protected from a deadly disease.

That's not just two-tier medicine. That's criminal.

lindor.reynolds@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 27, 2008 A6