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New Zealand's Catholic Church hierarchy has rejected a claim that vaccinating 12-year-old girls against a sexually transmitted infection to prevent cervical cancer would "promote promiscuity".
John Kleinsman, a spokesman for the Catholic Bioethics Centre, said last night he could see "no necessary link" between giving the so-called cervical vaccine to girls and promiscuity.
The Government is seeking advice from health officials regarding Britain's decision to give the vaccine to all 12-year-old girls.
Dr Nikki Turner, director of the Immunisation Advisory Centre at Auckland University, said vaccinating girls with Gardasil could not be linked to promiscuity, since almost all those who were sexually active had been exposed to human papilloma virus (HPV).
Mr Kleinsman said as long as parents were given a choice whether or not to have their girls vaccinated, he had no objection to its being used in 12-year-olds. Previously he has said: "We recognise the severity of cervical cancer and the devastating effects it has on women."
On Sunday, Bob McCoskrie, of the conservative lobby group Family First, questioned Gardasil's safety and effectiveness and said giving the vaccine to girls aged 12 "promotes promiscuity".
"We are accepting by default that kids are going to be sexually active at a time that is not suitable or safe for them. This vaccine is like giving a 12-year-old a condom and saying 'just in case'," Mr McCoskrie said.
In New Zealand, Gardasil is licensed for use in girls aged as young as 9. The idea of giving it so young is to confer the vaccine's protection against four types of HPV before sexual activity begins.
Two of these HPV types are associated with 70 per cent of cervical cancers; the other two are linked to genital warts.
About 180 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year in New Zealand and 60 die from it.
In the United States, Gardasil has become controversial because of the deaths of three young women within days of having received it.
But David Bowler, general manager of CSL, the vaccine's New Zealand supplier, said the US Food and Drug Administration had reported there was no causal relationship between the vaccine and the deaths.
"In all three cases there were other factors or significant health issues other than vaccination involved," Mr Bowler said, quoting the FDA.
He said more than 1000 New Zealand females had been given the vaccine, which costs around $450 for the course of three injections.
Dr Turner said the vaccine could significantly reduce cervical cancer, especially in Maori and Pacific women, who had a higher rate of the disease.
