KHI NEWS SERVICE
TOPEKA, Feb. 7
The House Health and Human Services heard the first round of testimony Wednesday on a bill to require girls entering the sixth grade to be vaccinated against human papilloma virus.
Testimony on House Bill 2227 will continue on Wednesday at the committee”s 1:30 p.m. meeting in Room 526-S.
Human papilloma virus is the leading cause of cervical cancer. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the vaccine that would be used
Gardasil
protects against four HPV types, which together cause 70 percent of cervical cancers and 90 percent of genital warts.
Two cervical cancer survivors tearfully recounted their experiences for the committee.
“We have an opportunity to protect our daughters from the virus that causes cervical cancer before exposure,” said MaryAnne Caster of Wichita, who underwent a radical hysterectomy and bladder surgery after her diagnosis eight years ago, and who was diagnosed last year with breast cancer. “Don”t our daughters deserve that chance? I know mine do.”
Others who testified
in favor of the bill
were Dr. Henry Buck, an OB-GYN from Lawrence, and Alexandra Stewart, an assistant research professor at George Washington University’s School of Public Health and Health Services.
Kansas is one of many states considering the legislation this year. Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed an executive order earlier this month requiring girls ages 11 and 12 who are entering the sixth grade to receive the vaccination starting in September 2008.
A committee in the Virginia House of Delegates passed a similar measure last month; Colorado, Connecticut, Michigan and Wisconsin are also studying the matter.
A Maryland state senator who introduced legislation in January withdrew her proposal a few weeks later. Democratic Sen. Delores Kelley told The Washington Post that she planned to reintroduce a bill during the next legislative session.