Farking wackos!
jwm
HPV vaccine not a threat, Catholic board deems
CAROLINE ALPHONSO AND UNNATI GANDHI
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
September 19, 2007 at 12:25 AM EDT
BURLINGTON, ONT. AND TORONTO — The debate about the controversial HPV vaccine that has been playing out across the country came to a head Tuesday night after trustees for the Halton Catholic District School Board decided that the Catholic faith was not being “threatened” by allowing the program into their schools.
In a 4-3 vote, the trustees defeated a motion to ban public health officials from administering the vaccine for human papillomavirus, which causes 70 per cent of all cervical cancer and 90 per cent of genital warts, to its students.
“I'm not sure what elements of our Catholicity are being threatened here,” said trustee Rev. David Wilhelm. “What the bishops are telling us is that parents have the right and the responsibility to make these decisions for their children and I don't think any of us have the right to take that away, as difficult as that may be.”
The school-based program has already been approved in four provinces, but the others are still considering the move.
The hour-long, impassioned debate among trustees Tuesday night comes as their Toronto counterparts prepare to vote on the matter Wednesday night, and just a week after the Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops distributed a memo to school boards suggesting that more research and public education about the program is needed.
But Anthony Danko, the trustee who introduced the motion, referred to the bishops' letter as “a gift” and said that “we need to fight for our schools to maintain this Catholic identity.”
Student trustee Erin Gamble agreed with him, saying that by administering vaccines for STDs in her school, the board would be contradicting what she has been taught – abstinence.
In a separate motion Tuesday night, the trustees voted in favour of a package that would be sent home to parents, which would include the bishops' letter, information from public health officials, and a note that parental consent is required. They also voted for public health to provide the board with a letter that the vaccine will not be administered in schools without parents' consent. Toronto Catholic District School Board chair Oliver Carroll said trustees will vote Wednesday night on whether to ban the public health unit from administering the HPV vaccine to Grade 8 girls in its schools. Trustees will also vote on whether the letter from the Catholic bishops should be sent home to parents.
Public health nurses were ready to start administering the vaccine in Toronto Catholic schools last week, but Mr. Carroll said the board hadn't voted on letting them in.
“There are a number of people, and I wouldn't say it's a large number of Catholics, who believe that we shouldn't be doing anything that would suggest that we're promoting or cordoning any type of sexual activity outside of marriage. I don't see that, and I think the majority of my colleagues don't either,” Mr. Carroll said.
He said he hopes the school board approves the vaccination program in its school and provides parents with information from the health department and the bishops' letter. “At the end of the day, it's really up to the parents to decide. We only want to give them the information and let them know what the issues are, mostly from a health perspective,” Mr. Carroll said.
The drug for HPV has concerned parents, many of whom fear its long-term side effects and feel uneasy about vaccinating girls as young as 10 with protection for a sexually transmitted disease.
Ottawa announced in March a $300-million funding package to be shared by provinces that agreed to add HPV to their free school-based vaccination programs. The announcement stunned public health officials because it came well before the Canadian Immunization Committee had reported back on whether the vaccine should be publicly funded.
Some provinces quickly jumped on board. Because the vaccine only works if it's given before patients are exposed to four specific strains of HPV for which it provides protection, medical experts recommended administering it to girls before they become sexually active. Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island have chosen Grade 6 girls to receive it. In Nova Scotia, the vaccine will be given to Grade 7 girls. And in Ontario, Grade 8 girls will get it.
Boys can also get HPV, but testing is still being done to determine whether the vaccine works for them.
According to trials, the vaccine, marketed by Merck Frosst Canada Ltd. under the name Gardasil, provides nearly full immunity to four types of the human papillomavirus, which causes 70 per cent of all cervical cancer and 90 per cent of genital warts.
Public health nurses have already set up clinics in various Ontario's public schools to administer the first dose of the vaccine. It is given by needle in three doses over six months.
Some Catholic boards have agreed to have the vaccination program in their schools.
Trustees at the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board met Monday night and decided to send the forms and information from the health department home along with the letter from the Catholic bishops.
“We're going to co-operate. The key piece of information here is parents have the choice whether they want their daughters to participate,” spokesman Bruce Campbell said.
jwm
HPV vaccine not a threat, Catholic board deems
CAROLINE ALPHONSO AND UNNATI GANDHI
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
September 19, 2007 at 12:25 AM EDT
BURLINGTON, ONT. AND TORONTO — The debate about the controversial HPV vaccine that has been playing out across the country came to a head Tuesday night after trustees for the Halton Catholic District School Board decided that the Catholic faith was not being “threatened” by allowing the program into their schools.
In a 4-3 vote, the trustees defeated a motion to ban public health officials from administering the vaccine for human papillomavirus, which causes 70 per cent of all cervical cancer and 90 per cent of genital warts, to its students.
“I'm not sure what elements of our Catholicity are being threatened here,” said trustee Rev. David Wilhelm. “What the bishops are telling us is that parents have the right and the responsibility to make these decisions for their children and I don't think any of us have the right to take that away, as difficult as that may be.”
The school-based program has already been approved in four provinces, but the others are still considering the move.
The hour-long, impassioned debate among trustees Tuesday night comes as their Toronto counterparts prepare to vote on the matter Wednesday night, and just a week after the Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops distributed a memo to school boards suggesting that more research and public education about the program is needed.
But Anthony Danko, the trustee who introduced the motion, referred to the bishops' letter as “a gift” and said that “we need to fight for our schools to maintain this Catholic identity.”
Student trustee Erin Gamble agreed with him, saying that by administering vaccines for STDs in her school, the board would be contradicting what she has been taught – abstinence.
In a separate motion Tuesday night, the trustees voted in favour of a package that would be sent home to parents, which would include the bishops' letter, information from public health officials, and a note that parental consent is required. They also voted for public health to provide the board with a letter that the vaccine will not be administered in schools without parents' consent. Toronto Catholic District School Board chair Oliver Carroll said trustees will vote Wednesday night on whether to ban the public health unit from administering the HPV vaccine to Grade 8 girls in its schools. Trustees will also vote on whether the letter from the Catholic bishops should be sent home to parents.
Public health nurses were ready to start administering the vaccine in Toronto Catholic schools last week, but Mr. Carroll said the board hadn't voted on letting them in.
“There are a number of people, and I wouldn't say it's a large number of Catholics, who believe that we shouldn't be doing anything that would suggest that we're promoting or cordoning any type of sexual activity outside of marriage. I don't see that, and I think the majority of my colleagues don't either,” Mr. Carroll said.
He said he hopes the school board approves the vaccination program in its school and provides parents with information from the health department and the bishops' letter. “At the end of the day, it's really up to the parents to decide. We only want to give them the information and let them know what the issues are, mostly from a health perspective,” Mr. Carroll said.
The drug for HPV has concerned parents, many of whom fear its long-term side effects and feel uneasy about vaccinating girls as young as 10 with protection for a sexually transmitted disease.
Ottawa announced in March a $300-million funding package to be shared by provinces that agreed to add HPV to their free school-based vaccination programs. The announcement stunned public health officials because it came well before the Canadian Immunization Committee had reported back on whether the vaccine should be publicly funded.
Some provinces quickly jumped on board. Because the vaccine only works if it's given before patients are exposed to four specific strains of HPV for which it provides protection, medical experts recommended administering it to girls before they become sexually active. Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island have chosen Grade 6 girls to receive it. In Nova Scotia, the vaccine will be given to Grade 7 girls. And in Ontario, Grade 8 girls will get it.
Boys can also get HPV, but testing is still being done to determine whether the vaccine works for them.
According to trials, the vaccine, marketed by Merck Frosst Canada Ltd. under the name Gardasil, provides nearly full immunity to four types of the human papillomavirus, which causes 70 per cent of all cervical cancer and 90 per cent of genital warts.
Public health nurses have already set up clinics in various Ontario's public schools to administer the first dose of the vaccine. It is given by needle in three doses over six months.
Some Catholic boards have agreed to have the vaccination program in their schools.
Trustees at the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board met Monday night and decided to send the forms and information from the health department home along with the letter from the Catholic bishops.
“We're going to co-operate. The key piece of information here is parents have the choice whether they want their daughters to participate,” spokesman Bruce Campbell said.
