Science Magazine 21 July 2006 - REPOST

EDITORIAL (Excerpt)

News on Women’s Health

A PIECE OF IMPORTANT AND ENCOURAGING NEWS FOR THE WORLD’S WOMEN AND THEIR HEALTH has recently arrived from the world of clinical trials. The results of a carefully structured controlled trial have persuaded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with strong endorsement from an advisory committee, to approve a vaccine that is effective against the two forms of human papilloma virus (HPV) that are most likely to lead to cervical cancer. 3700 women die of this disease annually in the United States, but the mortality is far, far greater in the developing world, where this vaccine could provide a major public health benefit. Thus there is strong international interest in this result, and approval processes are under way in a number of countries. Here in the United States, which individuals receive immunization, when they get it, and where, are problems that await resolution in potentially heavy ethical weather.

…If there is to be significant progress in reducing the incidence of cervical cancer, the HPV vaccine should be made part of a mandatory preschool immunization package…But that slogan ignores a serious ethical consequence: If the choice entails spreading harm to other people, can it really be called “free”?

– Donald Kennedy