P.E.I. could pay for anti-cancer vaccine
CBC News
September 27, 2006
The provincial government is considering whether to add a new vaccine for human papilloma virus to the list of drugs it covers. HPV is a major cause of cervical cancer.
The HPV vaccine was approved by Health Canada in July, so it is available for use by Canadians, but the costs are not yet covered by any province. A full course of the vaccine costs about $405.
P.E.I. Health Minister Chester Gillan said his officials are meeting with the National Advisory Committee on Immunization, and the Canadian and Atlantic expert drug advisory committees.
"We tend to think that it is going to go through," Gillan told CBC News. "Health Canada have given it the green light, so it is probably going to be accepted."
The vaccine does not protect against all HPV, but wards off strains that cause 70 per cent of cases of cervical cancer. Women who had had the vaccine would still need regular pap smears.
HPV is said to infect half of all sexually active women between ages 18 and 22 in North America. In most women, the virus clears up on its own, but if the infection persists, it can lead to cervical cancer.
The vaccine is approved for women between the ages of nine and 26. Gillan said immunization on the Island would likely start later, at age 11.
A final decision on the vaccine will be made by cabinet.
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