The Boogyman "Down There"

A news release today suggests that HPV Testing is twice as effective as Pap Smears in screening for the Human Papilloma virus. I didn’t know this, but the article claims that the Pap Smear’s accurary is only 55.4%. Compare that with an accuracy of 94.6% of that of the HPV Test, and combine the two screening methods and we’re looking at 100% coverage. This is good news when considering the unknown risks and lab-rat making mass trial of the HPV Vaccine on young girls across the country. The Gardasil debate rages, and I continue to pay close attention to people like Shelley Page and Abby Lippman, critics of the vaccination rush. It is important to listen to the voices of dissent, the women who are not lobbyists, the questions being asked of motive. Check out this article from this summer’s National Review of Medicine and ask yourself the question, “Who will really benefit from the vaccine?” In the United States, the FDA has granted approval for the expanded use of the HPV Test. In Canada it costs approximately $100 for the test. Instead of spending $300 Million on Gardasil’s vaccine that prevents a cancer-causing virus that, as Lippman asserts, “only kills about 400 people a year in Canada, and most of them are dying because of lack of treatment”, that money would be better spent on a simple, 94.6% accurate test that screens for HPV. The test does not inject anything into our girls’ bodies, it is an examination under a microscope, it, “examines the genetic makeup of 13 high-risk strains of HPV to determine whether their presence is likely to lead to cancer.” Now that is something to celebrate. I wouldn’t bow down to Gardasil and rejoice in its vaccine just yet, I’m going to sit tight and watch how this plays out. Consider the alternatives and consider the motives of Gardasil and put our girls’ best interests first, not a corporation’s; making millions of dollars off girls and women with scare tactics.