Governor won't force HPV vaccine

BY BRAD SHANNON

Gov. Chris Gregoire told the state's association of medical doctors Monday that she prefers a voluntary, state-paid program for vaccinating pre-teen girls against a sexually transmitted virus linked to cervical cancer.

The governor of Texas, Rick Perry, on Friday issued an executive order making that state the first to require all 11- and 12-year-olds to get the vaccine against the human papillomavirus, or HPV, as they enter the sixth grade.

But Gregoire made clear - in comments she repeated in her weekly meeting with reporters at the Capitol - she won't go that route.

"That's not my style," Gregoire told the Washington State Medical Association's yearly legislative assembly, held at the Red Lion Olympia Hotel. "I'd like to have a dialogue with you all on this issue."

Gregoire said she also had counseled her daughters on the subject and thinks it is important.

The Democratic governor told the doctors she wants state Department of Health Secretary Mary Selecky to work with them on this issue. Selecky later said the governor has proposed $26 million in state funds over the next two years for childhood vaccination programs, including HPV and rotovirus, which causes childhood diarrhea.

Selecky said the state wants to make available the HPV vaccine - which is a Merck product known as Gardasil - free of cost to physicians, clinics and public health agencies. Doctors might charge to administer the shots, which are given in a series of three.

The vaccine is available already through doctors' offices, DOH spokesman Tim Church said, but Selecky said the state might be able to purchase it in bulk at lower costs. She said she hopes the state-bought vaccine can be available perhaps by May, and she expects to have enough to cover all girls 18 or younger.

Church said they estimate they can purchase 143,000 doses, which should be enough to vaccinate 47,000 girls the first year - which is the number DOH expects to seek vaccinations.

Vaccination of preteen girls is a recommendation of the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which advises the federal Centers for Disease Control and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on vaccination issues.

"Ideally, vaccine should be administered before potential exposure to HPV through sexual contact," the committee wrote in a recommendation last year.

NARAL-Pro Choice in Washington considers Gregoire's approach "a first step," executive director Karen Cooper said.

"But I'm glad some of the states are making it mandatory," Cooper added.

Bob Higley, lobbyist for the active conservative group Positive Christian Agenda, said his group is monitoring a bill that would provide education on HPV but has not taken a position on it.

Brad Shannon is political editor for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-753-1688 or bshannon@theolympian.com.

WHAT'S NEXT

Gov. Chris Gregoire has proposed $26 million for vaccination programs, including paying for vaccines against the human papilloma virus, or HPV, that causes cervical cancer. That proposal awaits action by House and Senate budget writers.

A hearing on House Bill 1802 is scheduled for 8 a.m. Wednesday before the House Health Care and Wellness Committee. The measure provides information about HPV disease and the vaccine to parents and guardians of children in the sixth grade. The Department of Health would prepare educational materials and would consult with the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.