Hpv Vs Gardasil

The first vaccine for human papilloma Virus (HPV) Gardasil was developed in 1993 by CSL. The technology used in Gardasil was later licensed from CSL by Dr. Kathrin Jansen of Merck in 1995. Together, Jansen and Merck, both were yeast experts used yeast from a library which had been developed from research on a hepatitis-B vaccine succeeded in developing large quantities of the shells which provided the foundation for Gardasil. By 2006, Merck had received FDA approval for Gardasil, as the first vaccine for human papilloma Virus (HPV), which had been identified as the cause of cervical cancer (Bethel University, 2011). Prior to FDA approval, Merck had begun to launch an intensive campaign for states to make the vaccine mandatory for girls ranging

from age 9-26 years. Merck had been criticized for being overly aggressive in the way the vaccine was being marketed. Although, Merck tactics and campaigned was aimed at promoting Gardasil as a mandatory vaccine for girls.

The Merck intense campaign caused uproar, and fierce debates among different organizations and parents’. According to Kaye, D. (2007), organizations and parents’ were against the lobbying because they feared that introducing young girls to a mandatory vaccination as Gardasil could encourage promiscuity and parents groups questioned the need for such a widespread program. However, in 2006 Merck’s Gardasil was approved for female aged 9-26 targeting a strain of HPV responsible for at least 70% of cervical cancer cases. Nevertheless, Merck was targeting young females that were not yet sexually active. Therefore, by 2007 Texas had become the first U. S. state that required that all 11 and 12 year old girls be vaccinated against HPV and parents could opt out only if it was for religious reasons. Although a vaccine has been discovered, it should not be mandatory that it be administered to females at such a young age. People should be educated more on the causes and results of the vaccine Gardasil and its importance. Other avenues should be explored before making Gardasil mandatory in other states because through research, girls are being used as “guinea pigs” to experiment this

vaccine. More knowledge and literature needs to be available for parents as well as children so that each will have a better understanding of the side effects and other issues the vaccine could cause. HPV is transmitted only through sexual activity according to research, yet girls within the age range of 11 and 12 yrs. old are being blocked from getting an education. Although the goal is to help prevent cervical cancer, the main focus should be to educate health officials, legislators, parents and children.