Province to offer vaccine at clinics for Catholics

From the Calgary Herald:
Alberta medical officials said Monday they will likely offer the human papillomavirus vaccine at public health clinics for local Catholic students and others in the province whose schools have banned the controversial shots.

Dr. Gerry Predy, acting chief medical officer of health, said Alberta Health must ensure all Grade 5 girls have equitable and free access to the HPV vaccine, which is designed to prevent cervical cancer.

"We need to look at how we can offer it in parts of the province where school districts won't offer it, and come up with a consistent way of doing it," said Predy.

"That's probably how it will be pursued . . . at clinics."

Health officials have been discussing how to deliver the vaccine to students in the separate system after two Catholic school districts in the province voted last week against participating in the province's new HPV vaccination program. ...more

HPV vaccine shows higher rate of anaphylaxis: study

From CTV News:
The human papilomavirus (HPV) vaccine is up to 20 times more likely than other school-based vaccines to cause anaphylaxis, according to a study released Monday.

Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction. Symptoms include difficulty breathing, nausea and rashes, but can be treated easily if identified early.

Last year Ontario, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland launched HPV vaccination programs in schools, and more provinces are slated to begin programs in September. The massive campaign has had some parents asking questions about the safety of the vaccine.

The Australian rate of anaphylaxis in women following HPV vaccination is 2.6 per 100,000 doses. For most other vaccines the rate is 1 per million.

Dr. Julia Brotherton, lead author of the study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, said some women may be allergic to the vaccine components. So far researchers haven't found which parts of the vaccine are causing the reactions. ...more

N.B. to offer HPV vaccination to girls

From CBC News:
New Brunswick will offer a school-based vaccination program to protect girls from the human papillomavirus, beginning in the 2008-2009 academic year.

Health Minister Mike Murphy announced in Saint John on Tuesday that the vaccination, which is meant to serve as protection from cervical cancer, will be part of the province's yet-to-be-released health plan.

"A comprehensive provincial cervical cancer prevention and screening strategy has the potential to drastically reduce this form of cancer in the province," Murphy said.

HPV is among the most common sexually transmitted infections in Canada with estimates suggesting about 75 per cent of women will have at least one HPV infection in their lifetime. ...more

Pediatricians endorse HPV vaccine

From Canada.com:
Your little girl may still be playing with dolls and sleeping with her favourite teddy bear, but the Canadian Paediatric Society says she should receive the vaccine to prevent human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted infection identified as the major cause of cervical cancer.

On Monday the group representing more than 2,500 pediatricians across Canada officially endorsed the vaccine, saying it should be given to girls aged nine to 13. The society indicated earlier this year that it intended to support the vaccine.

It's "a very safe, efficacious and exciting vaccine," said Dr. Lindy Samson, lead author of the pediatricians' position paper on Gardasil, the only HPV vaccine approved for use in Canada. Samson stressed the importance of vaccinating girls before they become sexually active. ...more

Cancer vaccine to be made available to Ontario school girls

From Canada.com:
Ontario announced Thursday it will begin to offer a vaccine that could help prevent cervical cancer to girls in Grade 8, a day after an article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal argued it is premature to offer the immunizations on a universal basis.

Ontario's free and voluntary program, which is to commence in classrooms this fall, will offer the Gardasil vaccine to about 84,000 young women at a cost of about $39 million a year or $117 million over three years -- Ontario's share of the $300 million announced in the last federal budget for the vaccine.

Gardasil is administered in three doses over six months. "By the end of this school year, all of our Grade 8 girls will get it if they choose," said Sandra Pupatello, Ontario's Minister Responsible for Women's Issues. ...more

Experts raise worries about HPV vaccine

From CTV News:
A group of Canadian public health professionals says there remain a number of unanswered questions about the HPV vaccine and that a universal vaccination program in Canada "is premature and could have unintended negative consequences."

Abby Lippman, a professor of epidemiology at McGill University, and colleagues, conducted a review of the current literature on the HPV the vaccine and summarize their conclusions in an editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

They found that while it appears that the vaccine is highly effective in preventing infection with HPV types 16 and 18 (currently thought to be the cause of about 70% of cervical cancer cases), it's still not clear whether reducing such infections will translate into fewer cervical cancer deaths in the long run. ...more

N.S. unveils cancer plan

From the Calgary Sun:
Nova Scotia became the first province yesterday to unveil plans for a publicly funded vaccine to protect young girls from the human papilloma virus -- the leading cause of cervical cancer.

The announcement came as obstetricians and gynecologists from across Canada warned more young women will die from the disease unless others act quickly.

The federal budget included $300 million for such programs.

Beginning this fall, some 6,000 Nova Scotian girls in Grade 7 will be given the option of receiving three doses of Gardasil. ...more

HPV vaccine 'hysteria' hits Canada

From the Windsor (Ont.) Star:
Gardasil, the vaccine against cervical cancer recommended for girls and women aged nine to 26 years, is flying off drug store shelves across Canada.

Designed to protect women from cancer caused by the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, it was approved one year ago by Health Canada but must be prescribed by a doctor or nurse practitioner.

Merck Frosst, the sole manufacturer of Gardasil, has distributed more than 90,000 doses in Canada through the end of April, and close to half of them were in Ontario, said spokeswoman Sheila Murphy.

Shoppers Drug Mart, Canada's leading drugstore chain, has noticed a four-fold increase in prescriptions across Canada since last December, said spokeswoman Pat Chapman. Although some are concerned that giving girls the vaccine may lead them to believe they can safely have sex, medical officials say the benefits far outweigh such concerns. ...more

To market a drug

From the Vancouver Sun:
When Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced $300 million in federal money for a program to vaccinate girls and young women against the human papilloma virus, it was hailed as the most important development in women's reproductive health since the pill.

This vaccine promises to tackle more than the warts caused by certain strains of HPV. It is billed as the first anti-cancer vaccine designed to prevent the vast majority of cervical cancer cases.

But it's too early to tell whether this is just a victory for women's health or also the triumph of an aggressive, multimillion-dollar marketing campaign that has infiltrated our living rooms and the political backrooms. Probably it's both. ...more

Former Harper adviser lobbying for drug firm

I'm glad the HPV vaccination program cash was included in this week's budget. However, it's really bad optics when a senior PM advisor just started to work for the only company that can benefit from the program.

From the Ottawa Citizen:
A lobbyist with past ties to Prime Minister Stephen Harper was retained last month by the drug company that stands to benefit from a newly announced $300 million in federal funding for a vaccination program to prevent cervical cancer.

Ken Boessenkool, who served as Mr. Harper's senior policy adviser until 2004, registered to lobby the federal government on immunization policy on behalf of Merck Frosst Canada. ...more

Extra $1.4 billion earmarked for health care

Today's federal budget featured many spending initiatives, and pharmacy-related items were included. Most notable was a promise to provide $300 million to provinces to immunize women against the HPV virus. There was also a mention of $400 million to help support provincial development of electronic health records. A national pharmacare strategy was not proposed.

Both of these measures are welcomed. I am especially heartened to see the HPV vaccination cash. This should help speed up the process of having the provinces add Gardasil (and future HPV vaccines) to their immunization programs. The details are unclear at this point, but if you use $500 as a rough estimate of the cost of the three necessary Gardasil injections per patient, the $300 million should immunize 60,000 women.

From the Vancouver Sun:
The federal government announced an extra $1.4 billion for health care Monday to make progress on a patient wait times guarantee, establish a national mental health commission and launch a vaccination program to prevent cancer of the cervix.

The largest portion of the extra health money in the minority Conservative government's budget is in a three-year, $612-million fund for provincial and territorial governments that make "public commitments to implement a wait times guarantee" by the end of this month. ...more