MD journal raises doubt over cervical cancer vaccine

MD journal raises doubt over cervical cancer vaccine

Joanne Laucius, CanWest News Service

Published: Thursday, August 02, 2007

OTTAWA -- It's too early for Canada to immunize all girls and women against a virus that causes cervical cancer, says a bombshell article published yesterday in the electronic edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Last month, Nova Scotia became the first province to outline a plan to roll out the Gardasil vaccine under a $300-million national program announced in the last federal budget.

The vaccine, administered in three doses over six months, prevents the spread of human papillomavirus, a sexually transmitted virus that causes most cervical cancers. However, there are many questions left unanswered, says the article, published yesterday in advance of the journal's Aug. 28 paper edition.