Children's Mercy Pediatric Infectious Disease physician Dr. Barbara Pahud is joining the growing number of cancer organizations calling for parents to have their children vaccinated against the Human Papillomavirus.
Pahud believes children should be vaccinated beginning at age 9.
"Pediatricians, doctors, and the National Institutes of Health make sure that these vaccines are safe; that they are tested in children, and we are the ones who do the clinical trials to make sure the vaccines work," said Pahud.
The World Health Organization, The American Cancer Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics promote the HPV vaccine as a cancer prevention vaccine. It is said to prevent cervical cancer and throat cancer triggered by HPV.
However, some parents and other people are critical of the Centers for Disease Control studies. Some concerned groups call the HPV vaccine dangerous and the CDC studies fake. Some parent groups oppose the vaccine, choosing instead to promote abstinence for their teens instead of a vaccination.
Pahud is trying to convince parents that the HPV vaccine issue is not about sex; she said it's all about preventing cancer.
"There have been studies that have been done showing that when girls or boys get the HPV vaccine it has no effect on their sexual activity - none whatsoever. So the vaccine is not a green light for sexual activity. What it is is cancer prevention," Pahud concluded.
