[Ip-health] Immigrants No Longer Required To Get HPV Vaccine

[Joana Ramos]

FYI.

 From Pharmalot blog:
http://www.pharmalot.com/2009/11/immigrants-no-longer-required-to-get-hpv-v=
accine/#more-19940

Link to AP article:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/sns-ap-us-immigration-hpv,0,6805596.story


Immigrants No Longer Required To Get HPV Vaccine

By Ed Silverman // November 18th, 2009 // 8:22 am

One more setback for Merck. Immigrant girls and women must no longer get
vaccinated against the human papillomavirus in order to get their green
cards. Starting Dec. 14, the HPV vaccine won=92t be on the list of
immunizations female immigrants ages 11 to 26 must receive before
becoming legal permanent residents, the Associated Press reports.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made the change last
Friday, more than a year after the US Department of Homeland Security
began requiring girls and young women who immigrate to the US to get
vaccinated with Gardasil, which at the time was the only HPV vaccine
available in the US. Recently, the FDA approved GlaxoSmithKline=92s
Cervarix. A coalition of more than 100 immigrant, health and women=92s
advocacy groups challenged the requirement, saying it was unfair to
require the HPV vaccine for immigrants but not for most US citizens, the
AP writes.

Now, the CDC will require immunizations when there is a public health
need at the time a person immigrates or changes their status to green
card holder. =93More than half of the immigrants who come to the U.S.
seeking opportunity are women,=94 Silvia Henriquez, executive director of
the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, says in a
statement. =93We thank the CDC for restoring their dignity and
reproductive justice.=94

By the way, the CDC policy change also means the Zoster vaccine to
protect against shingles won=92t be required of immigrants 60 or older.
=93They are not easily transmissible,=94 Katrin Kohl, deputy director in th=
e
CDC=92s division of global migration and quarantine, tells the AP. =93They
don=92t fit into the whole public health spirit of outbreak prevention.=94
And who sells the Zoster vaccine? Merck.


--
Joana Ramos, MSW
Director
Washington Coalition for Prescribing Integrity
Seattle, WA
206-229-2420
warxreform@gmail.com