Rep. Sellers, Jenny Sanford Stump for HPV Vaccine Bill

Last term Republicans and Democrats in the SC General Assembly came together to pass a bill providing the HPV vaccine for South Carolina students only to see Gov. Nikki Haley veto it.

On Monday, Rep. Bakari Sellers and former SC First Lady Jenny Sanford held a press conference at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center to announce Sellers had refiled the bill for the new session.

"We're going to fight cancer and we're going to beat cancer," Sellers said.

The Cervical Cancer Prevention Act states that no child will be required to receive the vaccine, but it allows DHEC to offer the three shot regimen of the vaccine for children entering the seventh grade. Additionally, it allows DHEC to develop an informational brochure about the vaccine to be sent home with sixth graders across the state.

Dr. Jennifer Young-Pierce, a gynecologic oncologist and assistant professor of obstetrics-gynecology at MUSC, said the focus is on seventh graders because those students fall in the 11-12 age range that studies have show has the most efficacious outcome from the vaccine. Additional studies show that a significant number of teens become sexually active by age 14 and the vaccine only works if a person has not already been exposed to the human papillomavirus.

She added that the virus can be spread without any sexual activity, simply from skin on skin contact.

"Most people are exposed to HPV within six months of becoming sexually active," Young-Pierce said.

She added that the concern that receiving the HPV vaccine would increase promiscuity among teens is unsubstantiated and that studies of separate populations of teens, one that received the vaccine and one that did not, showed no deviation between the groups in terms of engaging in sexual behaviors.

Another argument against those opposed to the HPV vaccine on promiscuity grounds that Hollings Advisory Board Chair Pamela Lackey noted is that a vaccine for another STD, Hepatitis B, is already required and begins with newborns.

"If we knew there was a vaccine for breast cancer we'd be giving it out at CVS," Young-Pierce said.

While the HPV vaccine issue has focused on women and girls who can develop cervical cancer from the disease, Dr. Andrew Kraft, Director of the MUSC Hollings Cancer Center, added that HPV does lead to other types of cancer including head and neck cancers in men as well as women.

Sanford, who has four sons, said if she had a daughter she would get her vaccinated, and added that while the primary focus is on getting girls vaccinated for HPV it is important to consider vaccinating boys as well.

Last term the Legislature did not have enough Senate votes to override Haley's veto, but Sellers remains optimistic about the bill's chances this term.

"We have a lot of new members," Sellers said. "I can't make anything happen by myself, but I want to make sure the kids in my district have the same opportunity to not have cervical cancer as anyone else."