Texas mandates cervical cancer vaccine for girls

By Jim Forsyth

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - Texas became the first U.S. state to require that all 11- and 12-year-old girls be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus, or HPV, a sexually transmitted disease that can cause cervical cancer, the governor's office said on Friday.

Republican Gov. Rick Perry issued an executive order requiring the HPV vaccine be added to the list of vaccines that students must have to be enrolled in the state's public schools.

The issue has generated fierce debate, with some religious organizations and parents' groups arguing such widespread vaccination programs could encourage premarital sex.

Perry said in a statement, "The HPV vaccine provides us with an incredible opportunity to effectively target and prevent cervical cancer." The vaccine is most effective in young women who are not yet sexually active.

He added that parents could opt out of mandatory vaccinations for their children if they objected for reasons including religious beliefs.

The girls will be vaccinated with Merck & Co. Inc.'s Gardasil, which won U.S. approval last June as the first vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, a disease that kills about 300,000 women worldwide each year.

The vaccine, which targets four HPV types believed to cause more than 70 percent of cervical cancer cases and 90 percent of genital warts, is cleared for use in girls and young women aged 9 to 26. In clinical trials, Gardasil was shown to be 100 percent effective against two of the most common HPV strains.

Perry's order comes as state lawmakers across the country are being lobbied by Merck and a national group, Women in Government, made up of female state legislators, to make the Gardasil vaccine required in most school districts.

Merck supports the Women in Government effort with funding and a Merck representative sits on its business council. Legislation is pending in more than a dozen other states to mandate Gardasil vaccinations.

The vaccine will be made available immediately to all girls aged 9 through 18 eligible under the Texas Vaccines for Children Program. Women from 19 to 21 enrolled in Medicaid in Texas also will be eligible immediately, the order said.

Cervical cancer is the fifth most common cancer among women aged 35 to 54, and Texas has the second highest number of women suffering from cervical cancer in the United States, according to the Texas governor's office.

(Additional reporting by Bill Berkrot in New York and Hillary Hylton in Austin)