Yellowknife Catholic school board won't deliver HPV vaccine

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September 18, 2009

Yellowknife Catholic school board won't deliver HPV vaccine

By CBC News CBC News

Girls in Yellowknife's Catholic school board will not get immunized

against the human papillomavirus at school, after board trustees voted

this week not to allow the vaccinations to be administered through its

schools.

? ?Girls in Yellowknife's Catholic school board will not get immunized

against the human papillomavirus (HPV) at school, after board trustees

voted this week not to allow the vaccinations to be administered

through its schools.

Trustees with Yellowknife Catholic Schools (YCS) voted 5-2 on

Wednesday not to allow HPV vaccinations to be administered at the

city's Catholic schools, following a debate on whether ensuring girls

get the controversial vaccines should be the responsibility of parents

or schools.

" They felt they didn't have enough information, " YCS board vice-chair

Rose-Marie told CBC News on Thursday.

" They felt that it hadn't been proven that it actually wouldn't

prevent cervical cancer, and they felt that there was scare tactics

associated with hype around this vaccine, " she said.

Each year in Canada, an estimated 1,300 women contract the sexually

transmitted virus, which can cause cervical cancer. About 400 women

die of cervical cancer annually and it is the second-most-common type

of cancer for women between the ages of 20 and 44.

, who had voted in favour of allowing HPV vaccinations to be

administered in YCS schools, said the majority of trustees felt they

wanted to put that responsibility squarely on the shoulders of parents.

But Wanda White, the N.W.T. government's communicable-disease

specialist, said having the HPV vaccine administered in schools would

make it easier for girls to get it.

" We'll have to make alternate arrangements for ... the young people to

come and get the immunization, either at the health centres or the

public health unit, " White said.

" So it creates work for the parents and, of course, getting the

students to come in and then getting the clinic time. Whereas if you

set up in the gymnasium or classroom and have all the kids come

through, you can get them done, you know, in a more expedited fashion. "

Girls going to YCS schools will have to schedule three shots over a

six-month period, White said.

The city's other school board, the Yellowknife Education District,

says it is allowing HPV vaccinations to be administered in its schools.

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