Catholic board to allow HPV vaccine in schools by Tim Whitnell Metroland West Media Group 11 | Wednesday, November 13, 2013 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com After a more than five-year hiatus, regional public health nurses will be returning to Halton Catholic District School Board schools to administer the HPV vaccine to Grade 8 girls. During a sometimes raucous board meeting last week -- in front of a rare packed audience that was mostly against allowing the vaccine to be given on board property -- trustees voted 6-2 in favour of reversing a policy that had not permitted vaccinations against the human papilloma virus (HPV). HPV is a common virus, with many strains, that is spread through sexual activity. It is the primary cause of cervical cancer and can cause genital warts and other cancers. The board ban had been in effect since a previous board voted in June 2008 to stop it from being administered to Grade 8 females at its schools effective September 2008. The vaccine has long been available through family doctors and clinics. The Halton Catholic school board was the only one of 29 Ontario Catholic boards that didn't allow onsite HPV vaccinations. Despite the decision, the board has not indicated how soon the HPV vaccine might be available again at its schools. In a semi-rare recorded vote, Burlington trustees John Morrison and Arlene Iantomasi, Oakville trustees Paul Marai and Ed Viana, Halton Hills trustee John Mark Rowe and Milton trustee and board chair Diane Rabenda voted `yes' to end the HPV vaccine ban. Oakville trustee Anthony Danko and Burlington's Jane Michael voted `no.' The vote garnered the two-thirds majority required to rescind an existing board policy. The result prompted a torrent of harsh words from several people in the audience prior to some of them storming out. Some shouted `Shame' repeatedly while one man yelled he would not put his kids in a Halton Catholic school and insisted the board was Catholic in name only. Many of the delegations said the board would be seen as hypocritical if it allowed the vaccine for its students while also teaching Catholic values such as chastity, as HPV is a sexually-transmitted disease. "If we overturn our current position on this vaccine, it will undermine our position and teachings on abstinence," said Danko. Prior to the vote, the board heard from seven delegations, six of whom wanted trustees to keep the existing ban in place. Most of the six presentations made against removing the vaccine ban claimed information they compiled from around the world questioned the safety of the HPV vaccine and alleged it was responsible for a number of deaths. The lone delegation speaking in favour of rescinding the ban consisted of three representatives from HPV Canada. "We are experts in infectious diseases and must say we are saddened by the (stance of) other delegations," said Mark Loeb, division director of infectious disease in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at McMaster University. "Cervical cancer kills 420 Canadian women annually," he noted. "The Internet is full of false claims" about the HPV vaccine, he added, which elicited groans of disapproval from the crowd. "They say that serious symptoms have been reported after vaccination.... Full investigations are essential before serious adverse effects can be considered confirmed," Loeb said in his presentation. "The safety of the HPV vaccine was obviously studied very closely before Health Canada approved it," a statement that when read, provoked mock laughter from many in the audience. "Two recent studies have entirely dis- If we overturn our current position on this vaccine, it will undermine our position and teachings on abstinence. Anthony Danko Oakville trustee proved the myth that HPV vaccine alters the way vaccine recipients behave with respect to sex," Loeb stated later in his presentation. Oakville trustee Danko took Loeb to task for his reference to federal government regulation and approval of the HPV vaccine. "Is that to say that everything Health Canada approves is safe, that they (approved drugs) haven't been recalled or caused deaths?" Loeb responded by saying, "They have been studied by experts like us, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and in Europe, unbiased institutions, and all deemed it (HPV vaccine) safe. "We are not dealing with blogs, we are not (connected) to drug companies or even public health units," he added. Danko indicated the entire issue is muddied by a three-page legal opinion on the HPV vaccine provided to the board. In one part it states the Halton Region Public Health Unit will not give a vaccination to a student unless it has written consent from both the student and their parent. However, in another part of the document, the law firm states most Grade 8 students would be considered to have the right, under the Health Care Consent Act of 1996, to decide for themselves if they want to receive the vaccine. · · · The board had two security guards at Tuesday's meeting. The doors to the boardroom, normally closed during public meetings, remained open Tuesday with the guards stationed just outside. · · · Longtime Oakville trustee Alice Anne LeMay was not present for the HPV vaccine vote as she remains in hospital recovering from pneumonia. The 33-year board veteran has been in Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital (OTMH) since Sept. 30. She was recently moved out of the Intensive Care Unit. It is not known when she might be able to return to her trustee duties. Shhhh... Oakville's Best Kept Secret. 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