Protecting Girls and Young Women Now for a Healthier Future

The HPV vaccine is a life-saving vaccine with a proven-safety record. It can protect our young girls and women from cervical cancer later in life. The medical and public health communities are working together to reinforce the importance of HPV prevention. The below statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) addresses false statements that were recently made about this vaccine.  Please share this statement with others.

http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/hpv2011.pdf

For Immediate Release: September 13, 2011 

Contacts          Debbie Linchesky – dlinchesky@aap.org (847-434-7084)

                       Susan Stevens Martin – ssmartin@aap.org (847-434-7131)

American Academy of Pediatrics Statement on HPV Vaccine

By: O Marion Burton, MD, FAAP, president, American Academy of Pediatrics

“The American Academy of Pediatrics would like to correct false statements made in the Republican presidential campaign that HPV vaccine is dangerous and can cause mental retardation. There is absolutely no scientific validity to this statement. Since the vaccine has been introduced, more than 35 million doses have been administered, and it has an excellent safety record.

“The American Academy of Pediatrics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the American Academy of Family Physicians all recommend that girls receive HPV vaccine around age 11 or 12. That’s because this is the age at which the vaccine produces the best immune response in the body, and because it’s important to protect girls well before the onset of sexual activity. In the U.S., about 6 million people, including teens, become infected with HPV each year, and 4,000 women die from cervical cancer. This is a life-saving vaccine that can protect girls from cervical cancer.”

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 The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 60,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults. For more information, visit www.aap.org.