HPV Vaccine Now Available at Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood

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Niyesha Brooks receives her first of three doses of the HPV vaccine at the UHPP health center on Lark Street in Albany.

ALBANY, NY (05/05/2008)(readMedia)-- On May 1st, 2008, Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood (UHPP) will begin offering GARDASIL, a vaccine for the prevention of specific strains of HPV (Human Papillomavirus), to women ages 19-26 at its four health centers in Albany, Hudson, Latham and Troy. Women who want this new service should call 1-800-230-PLAN to be connected to the nearest Planned Parenthood health center.

“This vaccination offers extremely effective protection against strains of HPV that can cause cervical cancer,” noted UHPP President/CEO Patricia A. McGeown. “As a provider of cancer screening services for women of reproductive age, as well as a provider of testing and treatment services for sexually transmitted infections, we believe it is important to provide this service and to educate our patient population about the advantages of the vaccination.”

The GARDASIL vaccine is normally quite expensive and requires three separate doses over a period of six months. Dr. Christine Pluviose, UHPP’s Vice President for Patient Services, explained that UHPP waited to provide the vaccination until provisions had been put in place to ensure price would not be an obstacle. “Thanks to new funding provided by the New York State Health Department, the approval of Medicaid coverage for the vaccine, and the establishment of the Merck Vaccine Patient Assistance Program, we can now be sure that any UHPP patient over 18 years, regardless of income or insurance coverage, will be able to take advantage of this vaccine.”

In preparing to offer the vaccine, UHPP staff found that local primary care providers, including pediatricians and family practice physicians, were well educated about GARDASIL and already providing information and vaccines to those 18 years and younger. Merck and Company, the manufacture of GARDASIL, has also focused marketing efforts on promoting the vaccination to younger teens, with the goal of immunizing young women before they become sexually active.

“ But protection against HPV is important for all women,” asserts Pluviose, “and GARDASIL can significantly reduce a woman’s risk for cervical cancer and genital warts, even if she has already been sexually active. This vaccine has been approved and recommended for women up to age 26. At UHPP, we believe it is important that women in their college and early employment years understand that GARDASIL can be effective for them.” More than half of the total patients who come to UHPP are between the ages of 19 and 26 years, according to Pluviose.

There are many strains of HPV. An estimated 20 million Americans are currently infected with HPV and 50% of sexually active adults are expected to eventually contract HPV at some point in their lives. But most people with HPV show no signs or symptoms and transmit the virus unknowingly. Sometimes, a person’s immune system will clear one or more strains of HPV from the body’s system without medical intervention, but other strains can lay dormant.

GARDASIL prevents transmission of four specific strains of HPV; two that account for 70% of diagnosed cervical cancer cases related to HPV, and 2 strains that account for 90% of diagnosed cases of genital warts related to HPV. Cervical cancer is the second most common form of cancer among women worldwide and is the cause of death of nearly 4,000 women each year in the United States.

The vaccine is not a treatment for HPV, but rather prevention from new HPV infection. Women who receive GARDASIL should continue with regular cervical cancer screenings such as Pap tests. GARDASIL will not prevent infection from other strains of HPV beyond the four identified, and does not treat existing disease caused by the HPV strains in the vaccine. If you already have HPV, you may still benefit from the vaccination because most people are not infected with all four strains of HPV contained in GARDASIL.

Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood is a community-based non-profit organization providing advocacy, education and medical services for reproductive health care in the capital region since 1934. The agency provided health care services to 11,000 patients at health centers located in Albany, Columbia, Greene and Rensselaer Counties and presented over 500 education programs reaching over 7,000 youth and young adults in 2007. UHPP services are delivered with special concern for the underserved.

Note to Editors: Facts Sheets on GARDASIL and HPV available on request.

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