This is
very good news:
The first vaccine to prevent cervical cancer won U.S. approval on Thursday when health officials cleared a Merck & Co. Inc. shot to block a sexually transmitted infection that causes the deadly disease.
Public health experts called the Gardasil vaccine a major advance against a disease that kills about 300,000 women worldwide annually. Industry analysts said the product also should help revive the fortunes of struggling Merck with annual sales that could top $2 billion.
The vaccine blocks infection with certain types of the human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes genital warts and most cervical cancer.
"This vaccine is a significant advance in the protection of women's health in that it strikes at the infections that are the root cause of many cervical cancers," acting Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach said.
in three doses over six months, Gardasil targets four HPV types believed to cause more than 70 percent of cervical cancer cases and 90 percent of genital warts. The vaccine was approved for use in girls and women ages 9 to 26, Merck said.
Dobson's merry band of anti-science "culture of life" idiots won't be too happy. You might recall that their opposition to the vaccine included "logic" like this:
"Abstinence is the best way to prevent HPV," says Bridget Maher of the Family Research Council, a leading Christian lobby group ..."Giving the HPV vaccine to young women could be potentially harmful, because they may see it as a licence to engage in premarital sex."
Culture of life? More like "virginity or death". Regardless of their efforts, the Family Research Council's Republican extremists failed this time. Science - and most importantly, American women - won.
Update: Of course, there are more obstacles ahead. Feministing has the scoop.
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