Xavier Payne
Western Kentucky University
February 23, 2015
The HPV great but there are still those who do not want government to have so much control or say in their family business. Then there are those who are all for the HPV vaccine. There are also those who feel it’s in everyone’s best interest. Which then creates an issue ethics should the FDA approve mandatory Gardasil for vaccination for girls from the age of 12 to 16.
First off, there is the side that is against this mandate for numerous reasons one of which being they feel that this mandatory vaccine is the government interfering too much in their lives. Another one of the concerns that consist amongst parents is that they feel by giving their child a vaccine for a sexually transmitted disease at such a young age as 12, it is like they are giving their children implicit permission to go out and become involved in sexual activities. But studies show that each year the amount of girls under the age of 15 are become more and more sexually activity. One of the concerns would be people not know how the vaccine works. Which is not that complex the vaccine is injected into the muscles of the upper arm. It does not contain any genetic material (DNA) of the viruses. Instead, genetically engineered virus-like particles are used. These have the same outer protein coat as the viruses do, but do not carry any genetic information. The particles activate the body’s immune system and trigger the production of protective antibodies without causing an infection. Depending on the vaccine, the second dose is given one or two months after the first dose, and the third dose is given six months after the first dose. Which once people start to learn about the vaccine it might ease their mind. Probably the biggest concern is that by allowing the government to make mandatory vaccine is that parent fell as if they are losing parental control. Which once knowing all this it is not hard to understand why there are people who are scared of the vaccine.
Secondly, there are those who are all for the mandate for numerous reason. One of the reason to be for the mandate would be the benefit of the HPV vaccine falls under the very basic ethic of using accepted medical technology to prevent serious diseases whenever possible. Another would be to help establish herd immunity and to cut back chances of and outbreak. Vaccines have long been accepted as an excellent way to prevent dangerous diseases from striking our citizen which is one of the reason the mandate is not such a terrible thing. Certain types of HPV can lead to cervical cancer which can help be prevented with the vaccine. HPV can also cause along with cervical cancer vulva cancer, recital cancer, and testicular cancer.
Furthermore, one would use the five steps for determining if a policy or intervention that restricts individual rights. First would be demonstrating the risk of the vaccine probably the biggest risk in this would be someone contracting HPV and possible cervical cancer. Another risk would be making the parent of the children being vaccinated feel as if the government has too much say in their lives. Final risk would be implementing the mandatory vaccine just to see that its effectiveness be over exaggerated. Second would be demonstrating the interventions effectiveness. The effectiveness of this intervention would be to show that the Gardasil vaccine is good