Thursday, February 1, 2007

Excuse my cynicism...

... but I'm not going to throw my complete trust into the drug company that brought us the Vioxx scandal.

I agree that the whole idea of being immunized to prevent against cervical cancer is great. The first vaccine to prevent cancer from happening? How progressive! Great for cancer research! I worked for the Canadian Cancer Society for a short while and still volunteer there. I have met many remarkable men and women who have battled the disease in it's many forms. Any way to beat this disease from hitting so many people is definitely a good thing.

I'm just saying that I may need a couple years to throw my trust into Merck.

The part that really shook me up about this article though, was this quote here:
"We recommended nine to age 13 because that's the most likely period of time before females in Canada would become sexually active,'' said Dr. Shelley Deeks, executive secretary of NACI and a senior medical specialist in the immunization
and respiratory infections division at the Public Health Agency of Canada.

The most likely period of time for girls to be sexually active is 9 to 13?! That's absolute crazyness. I don't doubt that it may be true... I just know that I didn't even vaguely consider sex as an option at that age. I was playing Barbies with my little sisters, not getting it on with the neighbour boys. We weren't giving blow jobs in the backs of buses, or wearing bracelets to school which indicated to boys "how far we'd go" (which I know happened in the last city that I lived in). What's happened in our society that the most likely period of time for girls to become sexually active in 9 to 13?!

I have heard women around the city talking about this vaccination and the possibility of becoming immunized, though the big thing tends to be the fact that it's not yet covered under health insurance. Many women seem to be on the "I'll wait and see how things go with insurance or see what results are like in a couple years" bandwagon. Definitely a safe bet for now, though I am hoping that this vaccine proves successful.

It's a huge step forward toward women's health in Canada.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Leanne, your blog is fabulous. The quote from the Canadian Press says "...that's the most likely period of time BEFORE females in Canada would become sexually active...." Realistically speaking, most girls today for whatever reason (lack of dignity and self respect, perhaps?) do start having sex around age 14 or shortly thereafter. The vaccine is a big leap in women's health. And to think Canada is a socialist nation!!

Leanne said...

Good point Hope, good point.

How is the USofA treating you these days?