Is that a flushing sound I hear?

Some news from AP-

WASHINGTON - A drug company hopes to win federal approval early next month for a novel cervical cancer vaccine that it touts as the next biggest thing since the pap test in fighting the No. 2 cancer in women.

Merck & Co. already has won a key endorsement of the vaccine, called Gardasil, from a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee. A final decision by the FDA is expected by June 8.

The vaccine, administered in three shots over six months at a cost of $300 to $500, protects against the two types of human papillomavirus (HPV) believed responsible for about 70 percent of cervical cancer cases.

If Gardasil ultimately wins approval, it could prove a boon to public health, though the cost could hinder its broad use.

"The vaccine community will see this as an opportunity to prevent cancer. They will also see issues of availability and cost," said Dr. Bruce Gellin, a committee member and head of the federal vaccine policy office.

Even though Merck has played up the cancer benefits of Gardasil, it also protects against two other virus types that cause 90 percent of genital wart cases. All four virus types are sexually transmitted.

In fact, HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease. It affects more than 50 percent of sexually active adults. The cervical cancer it can cause kills about 290,000 women worldwide each year, including 3,500 women in the United States, where regular pap smears often detect precancerous lesions and early cancer.

Merck seeks to license Gardasil in dozens of countries. The Whitehouse Station, N.J. company estimates the vaccine could slash worldwide deaths from cervical cancer by more than two-thirds.

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During public comment, several speakers said the vaccine should not replace screening. Merck said the drug is not intended to do that. However, it could reduce some of the dread involved in the annual tests by eliminating many of the abnormalities they often turn up, said Dr. Eliav Barr, head of the HPV vaccine program at Merck.

The national Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will decide late in June whether to endorse routine vaccination with the vaccine, including in what age groups.

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Early vaccination remains important, since Gardasil does not necessarily protect against one or more of the four viruses in people already infected before they get the vaccine, and can increase their risk for precursors to cervical cancer. Also, Gardasil does not protect against infection from the many other virus strains not included in the vaccine.

That's certainly good news for all women.

Now lets do a flashback to the Palm Beach Post last July.

Lawmaker decries cut to cervical cancer task force
By Meghan Meyer
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 11, 2005

Although few paid much attention when the governor trimmed $30,000 for a task force from the state's $63 billion budget in May, some women's health advocates say the veto threw up the first, long-expected roadblock to a promising vaccine that targets the virus that causes cervical cancer.

A spokesman for the governor cited financial reasons for turning down $30,000 in administrative costs for the cervical cancer elimination task force. But state Rep. Anne Gannon, D-Delray Beach, who asked for the money, said the veto had more to do with fear of criticism from the religious right wing of the Republican Party.

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The seven members of the task force — state health officials, doctors, a registered nurse, and a member of the legislative women's caucus — would have studied the treatment and prevention of the disease in Florida, not only the implications of the vaccine, which the Food and Drug Administration could approve by the end of the year.

A state law created the task force two years ago, but the budget never included any money for it.

Gannon asked for $100,000, and the legislature agreed to give $30,000. Then the governor vetoed it.

"This doesn't kill the task force," Bush spokesman Russell Schweiss said. "The money was earmarked for administrative expenses. He didn't feel they needed $30,000."

That was followed by a hate filled Palm Beach Post editorial

A vaccine that would prevent more than 10,000 new diagnoses of cancer in the state and more than 3,700 deaths each year should be blocked because it will encourage more teens to have sex.

Reread that sentence all you want. The logic won't get any clearer. That's because the "reasoning" doesn't make sense. Yet such ideological illogic is behind Gov. Bush's veto of $30,000 for a task force that would have studied the treatment and prevention (including two vaccines in clinical trials) of cervical cancer in Florida -- a disease that is the second-leading cause of cancer death among women worldwide.

Florida ranks fourth in the number of new cervical cancer cases annually, according to a resolution the Legislature passed in April, naming January 2006 "Cervical Cancer Awareness Month." Pass a resolution? That's easy. Spend some money in the hope of eradicating a disease that often emaciates victims before killing a third of them? That takes standing up to a vocal minority that tries to turn every sex-related, public health issue into a shame-based, moral issue.

How does sex fit in with cervical cancer? The human papilloma virus is a sexually transmitted disease that can lead to cervical cancer. Never mind that most women with HPV don't get cervical cancer, or that most women -- at least 80 percent of sexually active women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- develop HPV in their lifetimes. Or didn't the governor read the feel-good resolution's description of HPV as "a virus commonly found in healthy women and only rarely resulting in cancer"? Why should it matter, anyway?

Legislation dealing with science should include this warning: Too much illogical ideology about sex is hazardous to the public's health.ow as I wrote a year ago

As I said a year ago, the $30,000 was a waste of money. A task force at that stage was going to have no effect on the vaccine getting FDA approval. Yesterday's news shows I was right. The $30,000 of Florida taxpayer money would have been flushed down the toilet. All for symbolism as Randy Schultz at the Post called it. Maybe Rep. Gannon should run advertisements with a flushing toilet the next time she runs for public office.

Will Randy Schultz and the Post or Rep. Anne Gannon admit to their foolishness of a year ago? I'm not going to hold my breath but just say I told you so.

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