Prevention is best

Dear editor,
Re: Ontario HPV vaccination program.
The studies of this vaccine (involving more than 20,000 women) show it is almost 100 percent effective in preventing infection with four Human Pappillomavirus (HPV) types, which are responsible for 70 percent of cervical cancer cases and 90 percent of genital warts.
(Cancer Care Ontario fully supports the voluntary, school-based immunization program to deliver the HPV vaccine to Grade 8 females. Some credible sources for information on the vaccine include www.hpvontario.ca and the Cancer Care Ontario site at www.cancercare.on.ca)
Every year, about 500 Ontario women are diagnosed with cervical cancer, and 150 die from it. Yet with the vaccine, and regular PAP tests, it is possible we could eradicate cervical cancer.
Is that realistic? Yes it is, definitely. Just look at the history of vaccination programs:
During my training, I saw cases of Haemophilus Meningitis and now my students from the medical school never see it . . . thanks to the vaccine.
I’ve never seen a case of polio—yet it was a common scourge my predecessors here, Dr. Kristjansen and Dr. Grayson, regularly had to treat.
What changed? The vaccine.
Much the same is true for the diseases of diphtheria and tetanus.
Like Cancer Care Ontario, I fully support the Grade 8 HPV vaccination program. I urge you to support it, as well.
Preventing these terrible diseases is better than trying to treat them.
(Signed),
Dr. Stephen Arif
(on behalf of
Atikokan’s
physicians)