Panel OKs cancer ed bill but not vaccination

By Nicole Warburton
Deseret Morning News
Published: Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2007 12:34 a.m. MST
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The House Health and Human Services Committee approved a bill Monday that would fund $25,000 for education on cervical cancer. But the measure included no funding for vaccinations.

HB358 is an amended version of a bill that failed to pass out of the same committee last week. Before being amended, the bill authorized the state to spend $1 million to educate and vaccinate women against the human papillomavirus, or HPV, a sexually transmitted disease known to cause cervical cancer.

Education about the HPV vaccination will still be part of the public information campaign funded by HB358, but the bill does not give funding for women to be immunized. The vaccine, Gardasil, was approved by the FDA in May 2006.

Rep. Karen Morgan, D-Salt Lake City, is the sponsor of HB358. Even without funding for immunizations, she said, her measure could help save lives.

"In Utah there were 60 new cases and 17 deaths last year," Morgan told committee members. "Recent advances in medical understanding and the availability of new technologies put elimination of this cancer within reach."

But Gayle Ruzicka, president of the Utah branch of the Eagle Forum, questioned the effectiveness of teaching people about the vaccine. Ruzicka said that she believes the vaccine hasn't been fully tested for its effectiveness and that abstinence should be taught as the only fail-safe way to prevent disease and pregnancy.

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"I think there are so many unanswered questions that have to do with this vaccination," Ruzicka said. "Will it appear that this state is promoting a vaccination that is still untested and still has problems?"

Morgan said after Ruzicka's testimony that she believed that Gardasil has been fully tested and proven effective. The vaccination covers two strains of HPV which cause about 70 percent of all forms of cervical cancer, she said.

"This is a bill about saving lives," Morgan said. "Every woman's life is precious and deserves to be saved, regardless of how they contracted the virus."

Reps. John Dougall, R-Highland, and Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, voted against the measure. It now moves to the House floor for debate.

E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com

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