Washington House Democrats

Women lawmakers unite to battle cervical cancer

Darneille proposal would promote vaccinations against HPV

January 29, 2007

OLYMPIA—A proposed law directing schools to tell parents about vaccines that can prevent cervical cancer is being co-sponsored by 27 of the 28 women in the Washington state House of Representatives.

 “Parents need to know that timely vaccinations can prevent the vast majority of cervical cancer suffering and deaths, and that delaying vaccinations is gambling with their daughters’ lives,” said state Rep. Jeannie Darneille (D-Tacoma), who authored the bill, House Bill 1802.

More than 20 state legislatures have scrambled to adopt laws in line with new health guidelines that recommend vaccinating 11-12 year-old girls against the types of human papilloma virus (HPV) which are responsible for 70 percent of cervical cancers.

Lawmakers in at least five states and the District of Columbia are considering laws that would make HPV vaccinations mandatory for all girls entering the sixth grade. The issue has sparked controversy because HPV is spread by sexual contact and the vaccine should be administered before girls or young women are exposed to the virus.

“Washington is not ready for a blanket mandate,” said Darneille. “But women in the Legislature are ready to demand that we educate as many parents as possible about the importance and availability of the vaccine. If I had a daughter, I’d make sure she was vaccinated.”

In Washington, the budget proposed by Gov. Chris Gregoire includes more than $13 million to make the HPV vaccine available through the state’s universal vaccine program, which supplies vaccines free of charge to children regardless of their ability to pay or their health plan coverage.

The federal Vaccines for Children program will cover the cost of HPV vaccines for children and teens under 19 years of age who are either uninsured, Medicaid-eligible, American Indian, or Alaska Native.

The HPV vaccine, Gardasil, is administered in three shots over a six month period. In addition to protecting against most cervical cancers, it also prevents about 90 percent of genital warts.

Darneille’s proposal is exactly parallel to current state law that requires schools to inform parents of children about meningococcal disease and its vaccine.

“Piggy-backing on existing law reduces the burden on schools to practically zero while ensuring that parents understand what is at stake for their daughters,” Darneille said.

Cervical cancer used to be a leading killer of women in the United States. Regular Pap tests and medical advances have reduced cervical cancer deaths by more than 74 percent since the mid-1950s, but cervical cancer still kills about 10 women each day in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society.

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