A vaccine with the potential to greatly reduce worldwide deaths from cervical cancer, the No. 2 cancer killer in women, should be approved for sales in the United States, a federal panel said yesterday.
A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee voted 13-0 to endorse Merck and Co.'s Gardasil as safe and effective. It blocks viruses that cause cervical cancer...
...Worldwide, 400,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year and more than 200,000 die of it.
The virus, commonly called HPV, is the most common sexually transmitted disease in this country, with about 20 million people infected.
The FDA panel stressed that Gardasil does not eliminate the need for cervical-cancer screening, such as the Pap smear test, because the vaccine does not protect against all HPV strains....
HOWEVER....
...Some conservative religious groups have expressed concerns about the vaccine, arguing that it may send an implicit message to young girls that sex is OK for them....
One of those groups is the Family Research Council. I find it absolutely amazing that that anyone could be against a vaccine that could save hundreds of thousands of lives each year. The vaccine not only would save lives, but it would save women from the pain and suffering they could endure with a cancer diagnosis. As mothers, we need to make sure that our daughters and their daughters have this vaccine available. Speak up and support its use.
**On another note.... Did you see the President riding in a dune buggy at the U.S.-Mexico border? Apparently, this is part of Josh Bolton new strategy for photo ops. Unfortuntely, Bush looked rather silly, especially since he was sweating profusely under his armpits.
**Republican Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania has an empty house in Penn Hills, PA. There is no evidence that he lives there because the home is empty. Santorum spends most of his time in Virginia. KDKA has a story and video about the empty house. Perhaps people should start sending registered letters to his Penn Hills home to prove he doesn't live there.
