North Dakota HPV Vaccine
In 2007, the North Dakota legislature passed a bill that will create a new program within the State Department of Health to educate the public about the human papilloma virus (HPV) and the HPV vaccine.
HPV often spreads through sexual contact. While most strains never create any symptoms, two strains can cause genital warts. HPV infections that continue unnoticed for long periods can lead to many types of cancer-most frequently cervical.
The HPV virus is:
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the HPV Vaccine with clinical trials demonstrating 100 percent efficacy in preventing cervical pre-cancers caused by HPV. and the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends the routine vaccination of females ages 11 and 26 (and as young as nine) and for young women ages 13 to 26 who have not been vaccinated.
The North Dakota bill, sponsored by Representatives Ekstrom, Hawken, Nottestad and Potter and Senators Erbele and Heckman, was strongly supported and signed into law in March of 2007. It requires that the North Dakota Department of Health distribute HPV informational materials and the vaccine.
Sign up to receive more alerts on the HPV Vaccine as well as other reproductive rights issues.
HPV often spreads through sexual contact. While most strains never create any symptoms, two strains can cause genital warts. HPV infections that continue unnoticed for long periods can lead to many types of cancer-most frequently cervical.
The HPV virus is:
- a leading cause of cervical cancer
- In 2006, around 10,000 U.S. women were diagnosed with cervical cancer, resulting in nearly 4,000 deaths.
- cervical cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths among women
- a 2005 study found only 40% of women ages 18 to 75 knew about HPV, and fewer than half knew of the link between HPV and cervical cancer
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the HPV Vaccine with clinical trials demonstrating 100 percent efficacy in preventing cervical pre-cancers caused by HPV. and the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends the routine vaccination of females ages 11 and 26 (and as young as nine) and for young women ages 13 to 26 who have not been vaccinated.
The North Dakota bill, sponsored by Representatives Ekstrom, Hawken, Nottestad and Potter and Senators Erbele and Heckman, was strongly supported and signed into law in March of 2007. It requires that the North Dakota Department of Health distribute HPV informational materials and the vaccine.
Sign up to receive more alerts on the HPV Vaccine as well as other reproductive rights issues.
