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Holy Spirit reverses decision on HPV vaccinations |
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Written by Jeff Wiebe
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Monday, October 06 2008, 10:33 PM |
Students in Lethbridge’s Holy Spirit Catholic School Division will not have the option of receiving a vaccine that guards against the human papilloma virus — at least not at school.
In a special meeting Monday, the school division board voted unanimously to reverse its earlier decision to allow the HPV vaccine to be given to Grade 5 girls in its schools, citing a letter it recently received from Alberta’s Catholic bishops. The board received a similar letter before deciding to allow the vaccine in June, but Nadine King, board chairman, said the recent letter was more strongly-worded and caused the board to reconsider its earlier decision.
“They gave us the stronger stance that they did not want this in schools, based on our Catholic faith and the morality of children,” explained King, adding the school board has been working with Chinook Health to arrange free vaccinations for Holy Spirit students at public health clinics.
“We will let parents know where they can access the vaccination, if they do so choose. And it will be free,” King said.
In addition to receiving letters outlining the bishops’ and the board’s positions on the HPV vaccine, parents will be given information on how to have their children vaccinated at health clinics.
“It’s a family decision, actually,” said King.
“That’s a parent’s right, it should be discussed as a family. And upon their decision, then they can go forth and vaccinate as they wish.”
David Keohane, superintendent of the school division, strongly supported the board’s decision.
“The decision is a very good one. One of the things that’s very helpful to us now is we have absolute clarity on what the bishops’ position is on this,” said Keohane.
“Given the fact that this vaccine has such profound moral implications, in terms of challenging our teachings on sexuality, we felt it was important to make sure that we would honour the bishops of Alberta and how they felt.
“It became very clear to us that whereas parental choice is very important, a vaccine of this nature, given the moral issues associated with it, has no place within our schools”
Keohane added he’s glad the vaccine will be accessible to Holy Spirit students elsewhere, through public clinics.
“Given the fact that we know now that there’s an opportunity in venues outside of our schools for the vaccine to be administered, we see this as very helpful to the board,” he explained.
Parents will be receiving information on the Chinook Health vaccination program this week. The vaccine will be available to all Grade 5 girls in Lethbridge this year and the program will expand to include Grade 9 girls next year.
“Our school nurses will be working with parents to ensure they understand how to access vaccines for their children,” said Dianne Shaw, director of wellness and community health for Chinook Health.
“Parents should soon be getting that first information about how they can access it and then further details through the rest of the week.”
The HPV vaccine protects against a sexually transmitted virus that causes 70 per cent of cervical cancer cases. The vaccine has been licensed in Canada for girls and women between the ages of nine and 26, but in recent months, concerns have been raised about its safety.
HPV infections cause no symptoms in most people and in most cases, the infection simply goes away on its own. But sometimes an infection can cause changes in the cells of the cervix, which can lead to cervical cancer. Every year, about 40 women die from cervical cancer in Alberta.
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Last Updated ( Monday, August 10 2009, 2:27 PM )
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