Starting this fall, female DU students who carry student health insurance will have access to full coverage for a new vaccine that reduces the risk of cervical cancer.
While students can currently obtain the shot at the DU Health and Counseling Center, the present student health plan does not cover the $360 cost of the vaccination. The Health and Counseling Center also does not bill insurance companies, so students looking to receive reimbursement for the cost of the vaccine must submit a claim to their own insurance, if they have it.
Starting in the fall of 2007, however, this will change. Beginning in August, students who opt to pay for DU’s health insurance in conjunction with the Student Health and Counseling Fee will be eligible to receive the vaccine free of charge. DU’s Health Promotion Coordinator, Katie Dunker, applauded the change in the coverage.
“We have worked very hard to cover this vaccine,” Dunker said.
Due to plans like this all over the united states, students currently enrolled in college could be the first generation of women to see a significant decrease in cervical cancer as a result of the vaccine.
The vaccine, called Gardasil, prevents cervical cancer by guarding against four strains (6, 11, 16 and 18) of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV), the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States.
Two of these strains, 16 and 18, account for approximately 70 percent of cervical cancer cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which estimates that one in four girls between the ages of 15 and 24 are affected by the virus.
The vaccine has been the topic of much controversy since its introduction in June 2006. Less than a month after being approved by the FDA, a federal vaccine advisory panel recommended that all girls between the ages of 11 and 26 receive the vaccine. Although the CDC called the vaccine “a breakthrough in women’s health,” the recommendation of Gardasil has been stalled by price and practicality-something that DU is looking to resolve.
Because HPV can present with no symptoms, detection of the virus is only possible through routine PAP smears. As with any type of cancer, early detection is extremely important. Most cervical cancer-related deaths are a result of lack of health care due to poverty. And at $360 for the series of three injections, Gardasil is one of the most expensive vaccines and may not be accessible to those who do not carry health insurance or cannot afford the vaccination.
Some states are considering mandating the vaccination, just as there are requirements for childhood vaccinations against polio, mumps and other diseases.
Gardasil is already the topic of legislation in some 20 states, including Colorado. In February, Texas became the first state to make the vaccination obligatory for young women. Beginning in September 2008, all girls entering the sixth grade will be required to show proof of the inoculation, unless their parents or guardians choose to opt out of the vaccine.
A similar bill, Senate Bill 80, is under consideration in Colorado. It was brought to the table last week and official voting has been set for May.
If passed, the bill would require that any girl of age 12 or older show proof of vaccination before attending school, unless her parents choose to opt out after reviewing information that would be provided to them.
Merck & Co., the manufacturer of Gardasil, states that the vaccine is most effective if given preemptively, before a girl ever engages in sexual activity.
However, this has spawned the question, how early is early enough. Those who oppose the bill claim that vaccinating 11 and 12-year-old girls for a sexually transmitted disease would encourage sexual activity. That is why most proposed legislation leaves the decision up to parents.
