CORRECTIONS APPENDED

After a heated debate last night, the Harvard Speech and Parliamentary Debate Society came out against making the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination mandatory. [CORRECTION APPENDED]

Four debaters, a moderator, and three audience members squeezed into Harvard Hall to discuss the issue as part of Women’s Week, organized by the Seneca and the Women’s Center.

“Tonight we will discuss if this important issue will help or hurt women,” said moderator Kevin Z. Jiang ’09, opening the evening.

Since the vaccine was approved in August, the Seneca and 13 other women’s groups have founded the Harvard HPV Vaccine Awareness Campaign to encourage undergraduates to get the immunization and to pressure University Health Services to offer it for free.

Before the debate, Jiang called Women’s Week “a great opportunity” for his group, the Speech and Parliamentary Debate Society.

But one of the debaters, Allen Ewalt ’07, said during his speech that, “HPV is a less than a disaster than this debate.”

“Harvard students should be talking more about how the government is spending money and showing more concern for relevant societal issues,” Ewalt said in his concluding remarks.

Texas Gov. Richard Perry recently issued an executive order requiring HPV vaccination for all females entering high school, prompting several states to consider adopting similar policies.

The new vaccine, Gardasil, is solely manufactured by Merck & Co., Inc.—a global research driven pharmaceutical company—as a preventative vaccine reccommended for women ages 9-26 who have not yet contracted HPV, a sexually transmitted disease that may lead to cervical cancer.

The side proposing a government mandate stressed its importance as a preventative measure and claimed that it would save the government money by reducing deaths from diseases caused by HPV.

The bill’s opponents, however, focused on the rarity of the virus and maintained that the costs would outweigh the benefits. Ewalt claimed that only 0.00001 percent of American women would contract the virus. [CORRECTION APPENDED]

Andrew W. Liang ’08 urged caution. [CORRECTION APPENDED]

“Only five years of testing has been conducted, making it necessary to see long-term results of the vaccination before government involvement is increased,” he said.

Siodhbhra M. Parkin ’10 gave a medical rationale for the moral arguments often raised by parents against mandatory HPV vaccination, claiming it will bring a “false sense of security about sex.”

Parkin, who is comping the Crimson News Board, was the only woman on the podium.

CORRECTIONS

The March 7 article "Society Debated HPV Vaccine" incorrectly stated that the Harvard Speech and Parliamentary Debate Society opposed making the HPV vaccination mandatory. In fact, the group—which organized the debate—does not have a stance on the issue. The article also incorrectly stated that Allen Ewalt '07 said that only 0.00001 percent of American women will contract the virus. The article also incorrectly stated that Allen Ewalt '07 said that only 0.00001 percent of American women will contract the virus. In fact, Ewalt said that 0.00001 is the chance that any American would die from cervical cancer. Finally, the article misspelled the name of Andrew W. Laing '08.