FeTuS:The answer is simple: vaccines work if received prior to exposure. HPV is ubiquitous in older people due to sexual exposure. for example, giving you the polio vaccine after you have polio is worthless. Same with the flu vaccine. Its not about discriminating against women who should be married, its about targeting the population most likely to benefit and least likely to have been exposed to the virus.
But that population is not targeted correctly.Yes, HPV is *almost* ubiqituous, however, there are a lot of different strains of it. All of my doctors have suggested that I get the vaccine as there's a high likelihood that I haven't been exposed to certain dangerous strains. The 26 cut off is completely arbitrary- I had only had one sexual partner by age 27, so there was a very high likelihood that I would benefit from the vaccine, but I was too old to get it. Imagine a woman who has had NO sexual partners but plans to in the future. On her 27th birthday, she suddenly won't benefit from the vaccine? That's completely ridiculous. What about a woman who had married early, only had sex with man, and then gets divorced at 40 (or hell her husband dies) and starts dating again. She suddenly wouldn't benefit? What about a woman who's husband ends up cheating on her? What about a woman who ends up cheating on her husband?
As I said, I understand the concept of cost-benefit analysis. The problem is the parameters are all messed up and based on incorrect cultural assumptions. On top of that, they didn't measure the possible benefits of giving the vaccine to other groups. The fact is, they have nothing to compare the results to. They don't know the level of benefits wouldn't outway the costs. They're only basing that claim on these loose and arbitrary cultural assumptions. I know they didn't test other groups because I read the documentation.
My current gynecologist is invloved in a campaign of doctors who are trying to get the FDA to extend the age limit. These doctors feel that all sexual active women could benefit from the vaccine. I'm 31 now and both my primary doctor and my gynecologist have strongly recommended that I get it before I have any additional sex partners. The problem is I just don't have the money. I pay for health insurance for stuff like that.
Yes I do think it's discrimination. A woman is perfectly eligible for this health care measure one day, when she's 26 and 364 days old. She wakes up on her birthday and she's not eligible. Yes, clearly that stroke of midnight means that she wouldn't benefit from preventative measures against cervical cancer.
