Too few teens get cancer-fighting HPV vaccine!
The proliferation of HPV (the human papilloma virus) among the sexually active cohort in the US and worldwide is unprecedented. Today, it is estimated that up to 40% of young adults are carriers of the HPV virus. The social and financial impact of this disease is enormous and is in excess of $850 million annually in the US alone.
HPV is a common virus that is passed from one person to another through direct skin-to-skin contact during sexual activity. Most sexually active people will get HPV at some time in their lives, though most will never even know it. HPV infection is most common in people in their late teens and early 20s. Some types of HPV can cause cervical cancer in women and other less common cancers — like cancers of the anus, penis, vagina, and vulva and oropharynx—and genital warts. Every year, about 12,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 4,000 women die from this disease in the U.S. About 1% of sexually active adults in the U.S. have visible genital warts at any point in time.
Current prophylactic strategies call for vaccination of young pubescent boys and girls up through the age of 26.
Research
The initial program, Women’s Stories, was piloted at Penn State University and then in reproductive health clinics in Philadelphia and is targeted to women in the 18-26-year-old range. The results of this group’s exposure to the Women’s Stories modules are striking. In carefully supervised and monitored studies, the people getting vaccinated almost doubled among those exposed to the program when compared to those who were not.
COMING Fall 2018
For more information and costs contact Michelle Miller-Day, PhD at michelle@real-prevention.com or (844) 255-7325, extension 2.
