Oh, you didn’t know? Shame on you!
Britain follows suit on the current discussions of whether or not to administer the vaccine against HPV (human papilloma virus), several strains of which cause most cervical cancer. The article from BBC News, titled “Public in dark on HPV cancer link”, reveals how few respondents to a survey are aware of HPV as a risk factor for the prolific cancer, and even its STI nature. The title suggests perhaps that the public has been kept in the dark, but the article seems to me to do what everything else I’ve read does: it puts the blame on women for not knowing.
According to HPVinfo.ca:
87% of Toronto high school students had not heard of the HPV virus…
According to a recent study by the American Cancer Society, less than a third of men and women in the general population have ever heard of HPV; of the people who have, few are aware how it is transmitted. Even fewer knew that certain types of HPV can cause cervical and anal cancer.
Maybe I’m exaggerating, but has anyone else seen anything, anywhere about health professionals/educators/scientists/etc. accepting responsibility for us not knowing? Am I supposed to know it by osmosis? There’s a reason we didn’t know: YOU DIDN’T TELL US. They would have had at least 3 chances while I was in public school to tell us this so it’s obvious the facts were simply unknown. The difference now is the knowledge gap seems to fall on us, the “uninformed public.” It’s frustrating, and makes me feel like an idiot.
The other thing is the government apparently refuses to conduct HPV testing, something the Danes are currently doing, which checks for the virus, not just abnormal cells. According to a friend, pap tests aren’t even 100% accurate. Scary? I think so. This health system, however, is rarely about diverse, preventive care.