Should teens get the HPV vaccine?
Do we need laws to force more people to get this vaccine?
Camila - Susana- Both
This vaccine is only for promiscuous people!
If I get it, I am going to convulse! The vaccine is not safe
It has terrible secondary effects, I am going to pass out!
It encourages girls to start their sex lives earlier!
I am going to be infertile!
I will not allow them to inject that to MY DAUGHTER
Won't somebody please think of the children!
Well...that is not completely true.
Good morning, my name is Camila Orozco, and my name is Susana Rengifo, we are 11th graders of the American School, and today, we want to discuss with you a crucial topic that has been forgotten throughout the years, the HPV vaccine.
Let’s start at the beginning, what is HPV?
According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) The HPV (Human Papillomavirus) is one of the main causes of mortality in women, and it is globally considered a public health priority. It is the main cause of cervical cancer, the fourth type of cancer most frequent among women, and it can cause anogenital warts in women and men.
More than a hundred types of HPV have been identified and more than 40 types infect the genital tract. Some of them are carcinogenic. HPV-16 and HPV-18 are the most common carcinogenic types, responsible for almost 70% of cervical cancers, as well as many cases of penile cancer, anal cancer, oropharyngeal carcinoma, and cancers of the head and neck.
Do you start to see the dimensions of this virus! The damage it causes mainly to women, but also to men. And all of this can be avoided, with the HPV vaccine, the solution to all these issues, and a great change to reduce mortality in women and men. It is the first vaccine ever against cancer! It’s something historical that is being implemented worldwide. However, the situation in Colombia is slightly different.
There is this lack of trust around this vaccine, many myths, lies that affect the colombian population directly, due to the fact that we have this extraordinary mean to prevent some types of cancer and to care for the health of the people, but due to these conceptions of the vaccine, we are letting that opportunity slip away.
Let’s talk about these myths.
Why get the vaccine for the hpv if it isn't secure?
There is this belief that the vaccine is not secure, and due to that it is not worthy. Wrong. Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines are safe and effective, and help protect from cervical cancer, one of the leading causes of death in women in the Americas.
If you don't trust me then trust the Global Vaccine Safety Advisory Group (GAVCS) of the World Health Organization (WHO), that since its launch in 2006, has reviewed scientific evidence on the safety of HPV vaccines.
You can tell me all you want that the vaccine is secure or that WHO supports it, but I do not believe you! Do you remember those girls from Carmen de Bolivar! They started to convulse due to the vaccine! I saw it in the news!
Let’s talk about this case, in Carmen de Bolivar, about 500 girls that received the vaccine developed symptoms presumably related to this vaccine. That 's...not true. After this event, the media and the population wrongly accused the vaccine of causing those attacks, after months of official investigation it was proven that it had nothing to do with the vaccine, but the rumors were already spreaded.
We talked to a gynecologist here in Barranquilla, doctor Mario Julio Mendoza who works at the clinic Puerto Azul and he expressed his opinion about this case. He has absolutely no idea about what truly happened there, but what he knows, is that it could not have been related to the vaccine in general, the vaccine works, nowadays there are countries that have 0 cervical cancer thanks to this vaccine, and he remarks that it is truly bizarre, that this type of events ONLY happened there, with all these evidence, he could only conclude that the vaccine could not have been involved.
What are the secondary effects? If I get that vaccine I'm gonna pass out!
False, actually those cases of girls that faint right after getting an HPV vaccine were probably a result of an effect known as syncopes, which is related to anxiety or a stress reaction to injection. These reactions can occur during the injection of any other vaccine, medication, or other medical procedure.
But if i get the vaccine I gonna have as a result neurologic problems
False again, scientific studies, as well as reviews by the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Vaccine Safety Advisory Group (GAVCS), have not shown an increased risk of developing neurological problems from HPV vaccination.
If i get that vaccine for my daughter then Im literally telling her to go and have sex!
No, several studies have shown that girls who are vaccinated against HPV are no more likely to engage in early sexual activities than those who are not vaccinated, besides, the vaccination is most effective in women who have not been exposed to HPV, so vaccination is ideal before sex is started.
Why should I get that vaccine if it only accelerates the development of cervical cancer?
A complete myth, The HPV vaccine is prophylactic, which means it is used for the prevention of infection caused by oncogenic HPV and therefore prevents the presence of Cancer.
But I want a family and if I get that vaccine am gonna be infertile then
false false and false, although this myth has received a lot of attention in the media, The Global Advisory Group on Vaccine Safety (GAVCS) of the World Health Organization (WHO) conducted an extensive review of available scientific evidence and concluded that there is no relationship between HPV vaccination and infertility.
The HPV vaccine does not protect you from cervical cancer! It is not effective and they only allow it in developing countries like Colombia.
FALSE. According to the MINSALUD, the vaccine against the infection of HPV and therefore cervical cancer is highly effective. Its efficacy is 98,2% for cervical cancer. And it is not only used in developing countries, this vaccine has been used by about 120 countries and about 23 million dosis have been administered! And this data does not only come from MINSALUD, different organizations of renown around the world have come to the same conclusion, such as WHO or the American Cancer Society
But...why should I get it, this vaccine is only for promiscuous people, I wear a condom and I am in a monogamous relationship...I don’t need it
While it is undeniable that HPV is most comomnly transmitted sexully, it is not as simple as that, according to PAHO, It can be spread even when condoms are used, and even in mutually monogamous relationships. Besides, it can also be transmitted through other means, due to the characteristics of this virus, it can survive for a long time on the surfaces of objects, consequently it can also be spread through objects or materials that may have come into contact with the infection, via direct contact with cuts and abrasions from an infected individual, and even in rare cases it can be spread during birth via mother-to-child transmission.
So this is not just a matter of fact of not having sex or wearing a condom, it can happen to everyone, and we ALL need it. About 90% of the world population suffers from this virus at some point of their lives.
And if you still don't believe us, we talked directly to the experts and this is what they tell us:
*Interview extract*
After talking about all these myths and taking into account all the viable information that we have shown, should teens get the HPV vaccine? according to us (and to the experts) Yes!
If our own government and every international health entity agrees on the implementation of the HPV vaccine, the real question would be: Do we need laws to force more people to get this vaccine? According to us no, what we really need is information. It is impressive the lack of information society has about this vaccine and the virus itself. If more people knew about the benefits of this vaccine we know that they would be getting it.
The response of the people to a more aggressive and mandatory campaign to get the vaccine would not be positive, people would be even more worried about its effects and consequences and would only provoke a rejection of the people towards the government and the vaccine itself.
As soon everyone realizes the importance and all the things that it can prevent, it would definitely change people's mindset, because at the end of the day it's the only vaccine against cancer.
As repetitive as it sounds, information is key, Colombia is a country in which disinformation reigns, people seem to forget that around 2500 women die per year due to cervical cancer and all this can be prevented in the future if our young generation starts to get the vaccine.
The aversion towards this vaccine has caused a significant damage to our vaccination program, and now I am going to talk from experience.
When I was around third grade, the government started the campaign in which all the girls received this vaccine for free, it consisted on three dosis, I received the first one and the second, but never got to receive the third one, due to this scandal that appeared in Carmen del Bolívar, nowadays I am in the middle of a huge mess due to the fact that with my gynecologist we are figuring out what to do, do I need to start over? Do I only need to take the last dosis? What do I do?! And as me, there are thousands of young girls that never got their dosis completed and they are running out of time! We need to make a change.
Now, would you get the HPV vaccine? No one can force you to get it, after all the decision is in your hands, no one else's.
Thanks.
By Camila Orozco E. and
Susana Rengifo T., Step 11
