The advent of the Internet has given us all easy access to information at the push of a button. But it has also created some online quacks whose ambition is to push their conspiracy theories and often misleading viewpoints to a public which is not always discerning.
This seems to have been exactly the case with the plans for the introduction in Barbados of the human papillomavirus vaccine. A little information has gotten into the wrong hands who in turn have created hysteria with their diet of negativity.
Questions must be asked and answers provided, as the process of public education is a vital link in communicating not only to parents and guardians but the general public the benefits or negatives of this vaccine.
This vaccine which is to protect girls against dangerous strains of the human papillomavirus, or HPV, that are a leading cause of cervical cancer has proved to be enormously effective in most of the many countries where it has been used.
Our information is based not only on the facts available on the Internet but on the information provided by our health professionals, whose own credibility is at stake here. We do not believe that our well trained nurses and medical practitioners would wilfully mislead us. After all, they themselves have much at stake, both as individuals and for their country.
More importantly, the involvement and information from the Pan American Health Organization, the Food and Drug Administration as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have all given further credence to the vaccine. They have all done extensive research on this preventative method and point to the many benefits.
Understandably, some parents will object to having their daughters immunized. Their fears are many. One frequently expressed is why should an 11 or 12-year-old girl need to be vaccinated against this disease which after all is sexually transmitted.
Others fear that vaccination will only lead to promiscuity and do not accept that administering the drug is the best protection before the girls do become sexually active. We need to recognize that some of our girls are sexually active by the time they are 13 or 14.
There is an opportunity for us teach sexuality in our schools by trained professionals, rather than allow our children to find out the wrong way – from their peers, child sexual predators or through the ubiquitous social media – about sexual activity.
Our main objective must be to provide the best health care which includes fighting cervical cancer, a disease that claims approximately 38 lives in this island annually.
Yes, read the information on the Internet, but accurately interpret what you read and do not mislead. With the HPV vaccine, we need to heed the advice of the health professionals.
