ALBUQUERQUE (AP) - State Department of Health officials are working out a program that would make the cervical cancer vaccine available to fifth-grade girls in public schools, starting next fall.
“The best way to get a vaccine in the population and get good penetration is to target one grade and offer all three doses in the same school year,” said Dr. Steve Jenison, medical director for infectious diseases with the Health Department.
“My guess is that a lot of people will get it,” he said, adding that the method is similar to the way hepatitis B shots are given to children now.
Jane McGrath, school health officer for the state Health Department, said school districts could choose whether to participate. School nurses would work with public health officials to bring in and administer the shots to girls with signed parental consent forms.
Merck and Co.’s Gardasil, the only approved cervical cancer vaccine, protects against some strains of the human papillomavirus or HPV. Most females encounter the virus within months of becoming sexually active, Jenison said. Some forms of the sexually transmitted virus can form chronic infection that sometimes leads to cervical cancer.
Sen. Steve Komadina, R-Corrales, has introduced a bill in the state Legislature that would require HPV vaccination for girls 9-14 years old to enter public or private school. Parents would be allowed to opt out of the requirement under the bill.
Gardasil is covered under Vaccines for Children, a federal program that buys vaccines in bulk and makes them available to states.
Most vaccines in New Mexico are delivered for free through the program. The state Health Department is asking legislators to allocate almost $1 million to buy the HPV vaccines.
Sen. Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque, is asking legislators to approve a bill that would require insurance companies to cover the vaccines for girls who don’t get it through that program.
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
