STD vaccine sparks debate

Moves to vaccinate 11-year-old girls against a sexually transmitted virus linked to cervical cancers have divided Rotorua teens and sparked an outcry from family lobby groups.

The Government is considering funding a vaccine to protect young women from the human papilloma virus (HPV or genital warts) - a sexually transmitted infection which can develop into cervical cancer.

Immunisation experts say the vaccine would target strains of HPV associated with 70 per cent of cervical cancers which affect about 180 New Zealand women each year. Of those, about 60 die.

To be effective, it's recommended the vaccine be given to girls as young as 11, or before they are sexually active. That's sparked concern from family lobby groups like Family First, who say mass-vaccinating young girls would only encourage them to have sex.

National director Bob McCroskie said parents should be concerned that any vaccine programme would promote promiscuity. "It's like giving a 12-year-old a condom and saying 'just in case'. What is the underlying message that child is receiving?"

One Rotorua woman told the Daily Post she was prepared to pay as much as $600 for the vaccine if it meant protecting her 14-year-old daughter from cervical cancer. The mother, who doesn't want to be identified, has ordered Gardasil and is urging more parents to consider the vaccine's health benefits. "This will protect my daughter from developing a terrible illness and that outweighs any concerns I have about her sexual activity."

Her daughter said she was happy to have the vaccine and believed it should be available to girls as young as 10. "I don't think it would encourage them to have sex but the reality is that some girls are having sex at intermediate [school]."

Rotorua's Hope Pearce said she received the vaccine as a 15-year-old in Australia last year. The health messages promoted were about the need to protect young women from cervical cancer. "We just thought it was a good thing."

However, 15-year-old Katie Goldingham said if it were funded in New Zealand, there was a risk some young girls would feel more comfortable about having unsafe sex. "If they can't get something like genital warts then they might not be scared off from having sex."