HPV Vaccine Debate

Should schools require students to have the HPV vaccine? Human Papilloma Virus better known as HPV is a sexually transmitted infection that has the slight chance of becoming cervical cancer. Requiring that the vaccination for HPV be administered at the age of eleven before entering school is unjust and in reality unnecessary. The vaccine only protects against HPV for four to five years. Most eleven year olds do not even think about sex, and by the time they do have sex the vaccine is no longer effective in preventing HPV. The vaccine also cost upwards to four hundred dollars making families that can not afford it have to either go into debt or avoid the vaccine. Parents should be the ones to decide wether a child gets the vaccine.

I will put my conclusion first, because I had to read a lot of articles to understand how complicated this issue is. My opinion is that girls and boys should get the 3 series of shots, or like the European Union’s recent recommendation, a series of 2 shots to help most people prevent HPVs. But in all the reading I did, it is sadly going to be a controversial issue for a while. The anti-vaxxer movement got started because of a fake study in England. Unfortunately that movement is still causing doubt about all vaccines and will be responsible for more disease and deaths. That thinking will slow the progress of requiring the HPV vaccine from preventing many cancer deaths. Here is what I found out about the vaccine, the virus, and how political candidates are using it in campaigns.

There are many reasons that this vaccine could be beneficial, not only to our society, but to many of the underdeveloped nations of the world in which HPV and cervical cancer are still considered to be an epidemic (MacDonald). It could save the young women who get the vaccine from the future trouble of dealing with a highly invasive cancer, as well as protect them from the embarrassment that comes with contracting a venereal disease. However, the controversy of this topic is not in whether the vaccine is a benefit to women’s health, which many, including the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control, believe that it is; but in the debate over whether it is the parents’ right, not the states’, to choose what is best for their child. The question of mandatory vaccination raises medical, moral and legal issues that are not easily reconcilable (Lovinger). Many parents are opposed to the mandating of this vaccine for three reasons. First, HPV is not spread by casual contact, as are the other diseases that children are vaccinated against for the safety of the classrooms. Second, the vaccine has only been approved for a short while, thus not all of the side effects and long term effects are known. Last, parents are afraid that by getting their child vaccinated against a sexually transmitted disease they will be encouraging promiscuity. Gardasil would become the first vaccine mandated for school-aged children that targets a

Looking at the principles of beneficence, non-maleficence, justice, and autonomy we can evaluate the requirement of the HPV vaccination through the ethical theory of principlism. The principle of autonomy indicates that people should make their own choices and decisions, but this law would be forcing someone to make a decision regarding their lifestyle choices, not from a student’s presence in a school classroom. The principle of beneficence, which is doing good, however does support the case in which HPV does prevent some strains of cervical cancer and genital warts. There are potential harms that fall under the principle of non-maleficence however, there could be less pap smear exams given if the student feels they are now insusceptible to developing cervical cancer. The HPV disease is sexually transmitted therefore it is unreasonable to require

Some argue that mandatory HPV vaccine promotes sexual activity. This reason is unique to HPV-related cervical cancer because only sexually active individuals are at risk for HPV and its’ associated problems, which differs from, for example, measles where solely being in the community is a risk factor (Colgrove, 2006). Historically, mandatory vaccinations have focused on these community-risk diseases, and therefore we lack a clear model for casual contact diseases. It’s proven quite difficult to enact any sort of mandated HPV legislation, instead relying on parents and juveniles to eventually make the best decision (Colgrove, Abiola & Mello,

C. Credibility: As you may remember, I spoke about vaccines during my informative speech. I have also conducted a large amount of research regarding the human papillomavirus. Most of my research came from the center of disease control and prevention (CDC) which if you don’t know already is the United States federal agency responsible for identifying and informing the public on health hazards. D. Thesis: I am proposing that the State require all children attending school to get the HPV vaccine in order to lower the prevalence of HPV in the United States. E. Preview:

HPV vaccinations bring up many public health and ethical issues. Some states want to require vaccines for school attendance. In the academic journal article “HPV Vaccination’s Second Act: Promotion, Competition, and Compulsion”, author Jason Schwartz states that, “Although some argue that HPV vaccines should never be mandated for school attendance, the temptation for policymakers to revisit this ethical and policy debate must be resisted until HPV vaccination has successfully become a routine, trusted component of adolescent medical care” (Schwartz). This train of thought exemplifies the opposition to HPV vaccination in this country, which restricts us in immunizing possible victims as effectively as possible. If the ignorance towards the vaccine continues, there will not be a powerful impact in decreasing rates of HPV infections.

Lack of education, and therefore lack of knowledge, regarding the vaccine and HPV consequences are a major barrier to compliance (Richman, 2016). Lack of knowledge greatly influences all three of the major spheres of the Health Belief Model: perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, and perceived efficacy. “The HBM can be used as a model for health care professionals to help modify behavior…health care providers should specifically focus on emphasizing to their college-aged patients the high risk of acquiring HPV and that the vaccine is effective” (MacArthur, 2017, p. 333). A study by MacArthur examined various aspects of the HBM in relation to HPV vaccine compliance among college students and found that while students believed the vaccine to be efficacious, their perceived threat of the

While personal choice concerns to those who oppose the HPV vaccine, promiscuity concerns them the most. Many parents, women support groups, and religious leaders worry that mandating the vaccine will give teenagers one less reason to abstain from sexual activities. The

The HPV vaccine has always been controversial. When the vaccine first debut in 2006, many parents felt that the vaccine was only for sexually active teens, and their children did not fit that mold. Others felt that the vaccine was dangerous and refused to be vaccinated. Unfortunately, the stigma around the HPV vaccine still stands.

The HPV vaccine reception has been similar to that of the hepatitis vaccine in that both are seen as an attack on morality, and are considered by some as a license for promiscuity. In the book Vaccine Allen quotes, ‘ “ If a 10- or 12-year-old is given a vaccine to protect against a sexually transmitted disease, then it’s implied they’d be engaging in risky sexual behavior,” said Pia de Solenni, director of “life and women’s issues” for the Family Research Council’ (433). The fact that HPV lives in the sexual organs and is spread by sexual intercourse or intravenous drug use has caused many parents to come to the belief that their children are not at risk. Some parents go so far as to suggest that if

In an online survey, the survey administrator and his team asked over fifteen hundred parents of 11-17 year old children whether they agreed that laws requiring HPV vaccination for sixth grade school entry were “a good idea” about half of the parent believed the HPV vaccine, was at least as important as the Tdap and Meningococcal vaccines, the other two recommended for adolescent, only forty percent believed the vaccine prevented cervical cancer. Nearly a quarter of the parents inaccurately believed the vaccine might cause long term health problems and one

In the beginning of our journey, it was clear that there were seven committee members that had seven different ideas of what personalizing education should look like. Visions from all areas of the board where created by our members. For example, there was talk about creating the perfect forest school, establishing a better form of democracy in education, and the debate of standardized testing belong in the public school systems. However, the main theme that we all had in common was our personal experiences with the lack of education being a priority for ourselves or a love ones in the past. It was also important that we made a difference in decreasing the academic expectations of teachers in some kind of way. The committee wanted to bring a refreshing way to the idea of partnership with teachers. This partnership would transform into a unique way of help students on their educational excursions.

All 50 states require vaccinations for children to enter kindergarten. These mandated vaccinations protect children from various diseases, such as, measles, mumps, rubella, polio, etc. These are contagious diseases that are contracted by casual contact within a school setting and have resulted in many deaths prior to the introduction of the vaccine. Mandating these vaccinations was the only solution to prevent the disease from spreading. In recent years the side effects of these vaccinations have been in question. Every child is unique and their bodies respond differently to each vaccination. Therefore, it is crucial to educate parents about all vaccinations and possible side effects. An informed parent has the right to decide whether to have their child vaccinated and when to have their child vaccinated. In 2006 the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine was introduced to the vaccination repertoire for 11-12 year old females and in 2010 for same aged males (Keim-Malpass,29). This vaccination is now mandated in Rhode Island, Virginia, and The District of Columbia. This vaccination unlike the other mandated vaccinations is to prevent the spread of a sexually transmitted disease, which is not contracted casually in a school setting. Mandating the HPV vaccine has created much controversy.

The three main types of financial statements¬—balance sheets, income statements, and statements of cash flows—provide essential information about a firm when tracking a company’s performance. These financial statements are provided and distributed by firms in the form of an annual report. As noted by Ciuhureanu, Baltes, & Gorski (2009), financial statements are essential to business management because “they are the fundamental information means of communication towards users” (p. 166). At a high level, company performance is best monitored through profit and loss values on each financial statement. Closer examination of these three types of financial statements reveals firm-specific details about company performance.