|
February 1, 2007
Contact: Bev
Pfeifer-Harms
Director of Communications
314.345.5500 office
HPV Vaccine Available For Southwest
Missouri Females
MFHs $11 Million Grant Ensures Access
to Prevent Cervical Cancer Caused by HPV
ST. LOUIS - Local health centers and clinics
throughout Missouri are now receiving supplies of the human
papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, enabling thousands of uninsured
and underinsured area girls and women ages 9-26 to be protected
against cervical cancer. The vaccine is available through
an $11 million grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health
(MFH) and is being given at 100 sites around the state, including
several in southwest Missouri. The vaccine, Gardasil®,
prevents cervical cancer in females caused by certain types
of HPV.
In southwest Missouri, the vaccine is available at these locations:
Anderson - Mary Ann Bradley Medical Clinic, 927 N. Hwy 71
Business; Bolivar - Polk County Health Center, 1317 West Broadway;
Cassville - James D. Warn Community Health Center, 1101 East
Main; Forsyth - Taney County Health Department, 15479 US Hwy.
160; Galena - Stone County Health Department, 109 E. 4th;
Greenfield - Dade County Health Department, 413 Water St.;
Joplin - MyClinic, 2700 McClelland Blvd., Bldg. A; Marshfield
- Webster County Health Department, 233 East Washington; Mount
Vernon - Lawrence County Health Department, 105 W. North St.;
Springfield - Jordan Valley Community Health at 630 W. Kearney,
618 N. Benton and 323 E. Grand; OACAC Family Planning, 215
South Barnes; John Bentley, MD Center for Health and Wellness,
630 West Kearney.
Vaccine distribution is being coordinated by Missouri Family
Health Council and Missouri Primary Care Association across
the MFH service area, which includes 84 Missouri counties
and the City of St. Louis. The MFH grant enables Missouri
health care providers to provide the vaccine free of charge
to as many as 30,000 girls and women ages 9-26 not covered
by adequate insurance or who do not qualify for Missouri's
free Vaccines For Children (VFC) program.
Recently, the federal VFC program approved adding
Gardasil to its free vaccine program for eligible girls and
women ages 9-18. Most vaccines provided through VFC cover
ages 0-18. Under general VFC guidelines, only Medicaid-eligible
girls and women who have no insurance or are Native American
or Alaskan Native, qualify to receive the HPV vaccine through
that program.
Gardasil, which was developed by Merck & Co., Inc., has
been available in the U.S. since mid-2006 following approval
by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. At the same time,
the national Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices
recommended it be given to females ages 9-26. However, the
commercial cost of the vaccine - about $360 for the three-dose
regimen - has severely limited its availability to low-income
and uninsured girls and women.
HPV has been identified as the cause of cervical cancers,
pre-cancers, benign cervical lesions and genital warts. Although
Gardasil does not prevent all types of HPV, it targets those
strains that account for 70 percent of cervical cancers and
90 percent of genital warts.
Created in 2000 from the conversion of Blue Cross/Blue Shield
of Missouri, MFH is the largest non-governmental funder of
community health activities in Missouri and is dedicated to
serving the uninsured, the underinsured and the underserved
in its service area. MFH's current assets stand at $1.3 billion,
making it the 3rd largest health care foundation in the U.S.
To date, MFH has issued more than $200 million in grants and
awards.
###
View
other releases.
|
