Re: “Bishop: Choose chastity, not shot,” Sept. 25.
Bishop Stephen Jensen of Prince George writes to parents that “mature-minor consent” for human papilloma vaccination will not be an option for Grade 6 and Grade 9 students attending Catholic schools in his diocese. His justification: “A vaccine against a sexually transmitted infection isn’t wrong, but abstinence is the only healthy choice.”
Some public-health education is needed here. Variants of the human papilloma virus are known to cause cervical, vaginal, anal and penile cancers. The vaccine is effective against these variants and has to be administered before a person begins sexual activity. Hence the early age of administration.
Abstinence might well protect the Grade 6 and 9 girls, but what if they marry an infected male after leaving school? Given that HPV has a very high incidence, a good argument can be made for both boys and girls being protected to lessen the numbers of adults suffering from genital cancers later in life.
Advising abstinence instead of vaccination in this instance is doing a grave disservice to the students in his spiritual care.
Joy Johnston
Comox
