The feminist case for Gaurdasil for boys

Sometimes the greatest challenge in public health is the public itself.

NPR's Shots health blog reported today on why giving the vaccine against human papillomavirus to boys may actually be an easier sell than for girls.

Wait for it - the "shocker" of the story is right at the end. The recent CDC approval for boys as young as 11 is likely less controversial than the six-year-and-counting push to vaccinate girls against the disease, which can cause cervical cancer, because, well, what is it? Oh yeah, I guess it's because it's easier to accept that boys just might have sex.

I hope the absurdity here is obvious. For one thing, if the majority of the population is heterosexual, with whom are they having this sex? But that point, actually, is neither here nor there. It's obvious that in 2011, double-standard views of sex are alive and well.

Regardless of my outrage on that harsh truth, I can understand a parent's (wholly unrealistic) hope that the difference here is that it's not about attitudes of men vs. women re: sex, it's about children, and we'll hope that children of any gender won't be sexually active too soon.

Hope isn't good enough. Hope doesn't prevent disease. Vaccination now protects the patient whether he or she becomes sexually active at that time or years afterward. In fact, if there is a case against vaccination, it's for the adults of my cohort who probably already have or have had one type of HPV. (This issue is another post in itself.)

So if we support HPV vaccination, should we support it for boys? Yes. Even if I don't agree with the logic behind it, it will help the generation of girls who will be exposed to the boys who might get the vaccine. After all, girls are at least somewhat more likely to get any STI, just by virtue of anatomy.

I'll continue to oppose the double standard, but because of the way herd immunity works, any increase in vaccination helps reduce the risk to the entire population.

In the meantime, the public of the American middle classes, sometimes the greatest threat to public health is just silliness.