Profession
Virginia passes HPV vaccine mandate
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted March 19, 2007
Virginia's Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine said March 1 that he plans to sign a bill mandating the human papillomavirus vaccine for girls entering the sixth grade.
The General Assembly passed the bill in February. If signed, it would become effective Oct. 1. The bill calls for parents to receive educational materials about the link between HPV and cervical cancer and allows them to sign a form to exempt their daughters from receiving it.
Kaine told The Virginian-Pilot that he believes the bill "strikes the right balance" by mandating the vaccine while allowing parents easily to opt out their daughters. Virginia will become the second state, after Texas, to enact an HPV vaccine mandate and the first to do so through the legislature. Physician organizations such as the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Academy of Pediatrics oppose mandating the HPV vaccine now because it is too expensive and because it has not been on the market long enough.
The Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics supported the legislation.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/03/19/prbf0319.htm.
