The cute girl sitting in front of you in class.
The guy you met at a party.
Basically any sexually active college student is at risk for genital human papillomavirus, or HPV.
In 2003, about 40 percent of sexually active women aged 14 to 19 had some form of HPV. About 50 percent of women, 20 to 24, had HPV, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey.
HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection, according to the CDC.
Discovery Magazine reported in June 2007 that Gardasil, the HPV vaccine, is the most expensive routine vaccine in the nation. The retail price of the vaccine is about $125 per dose — $375 for full series, according to the CDC.
By comparison, childhood vaccines, which combine several immunizations in a single shot, cost about $20 to $30 a dose, according to the magazine.
To get the HPV vaccine for free at the Payne County Health Department, a woman must be 18 and must get the three shots before her 19th birthday.
Remember that number we mentioned earlier about half of women between 20 and 24 having HPV?
What happens to them?
Merck, the company that manufactures the vaccine, has two assistance programs — one for people 18 and younger and another for people who are 19 or older and either don’t have health insurance or cannot afford to pay for the vaccines.
The second program is primarily for the uninsured who, without assistance, could not afford the vaccine, according to Merck’s Web site.
What happens when you’re a college student on your parents’ insurance who would get cut off if you admitted to Mom and Dad that you were having sex? What happens if you’re a 20-year-old college student with insurance that doesn’t cover the vaccine?
These are the kinds of questions we should be asking, especially during an election year when politicians are more likely to listen to prospective voters. Now is the time to voice concern over issues like these that truly affect Y-O-U.
— The O’Collegian
Editorial Board
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