May 16, 2014
The NortheastTexas Public Health District (NET Health) is working to prevent cancers often
found in men and women caused by human
papillomavirus, also known as HPV. It’s a common
virus, often without symptoms. Unfortunately, it can cause cervical cancer in women. Each year, more than 300 Texas
women die from cervical cancer.
The
good news is a vaccine now is available that can help prevent the disease. The
HPV vaccination protects against two types of HPV that cause nearly 70 percent
of cervical cancers. It helps prevent several other types of cancer in men and
women as well.
Recently, NET Health Immunization Coalition in Tyler received a $1,995 grant
from the Texas Medical Association’s (TMA’s) Be Wise — ImmunizeSM program
to provide HPV
vaccinations to more than 100 adolescents and young
adults. The grant is helping the coalition with its ongoing effort to eradicate
vaccine-preventable diseases in its community.
Slightly more than half of Texas
girls aged 13-17, 51 percent, receive the first HPV vaccine shot in the
three-shot series, according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention’s National Immunization Survey-Teen. However, only 30 percent finish
the entire vaccination series. For boys, the rates are even lower. Twenty-four
percent get their first shot and only 7 percent complete the three-shot series.
Texas’ vaccination rates are well below the Healthy
People 2020 target of 80-percent coverage for the HPV series.
“Increased awareness and administration of the HPV vaccine is critical for
decreasing HPV-related cancers,” said Sylvia Warren, RN, NET Health immunizations
director.
The Be
Wise — Immunize Local Impact Grants help Texas communities provide free and
low-cost vaccinations to uninsured Texans. Since 2012, 26 grants totaling more
than $40,000 have been awarded to Texas communities to improve Texans’ health.
Be Wise — Immunize and the Local Impact Grants are funded by the TMA Foundation
(TMAF), thanks to generous support from H-E-B and TMF
Health Quality Institute, and gifts from physicians and their families.
“TMA
Foundation and its donors are proud to support this effort because
immunizations prevent serious diseases and help us live a healthier life,” said
G. Sealy Massingill, MD, TMAF president.
TMA is the largest state medical society in
the nation, representing more than 47,000 physician and medical student
members. It is located in Austin and has 112 component county medical societies
around the state. TMA’s key objective since 1853 is to improve the health of
all Texans. TMA Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the association and
raises funds to support the public health and science priority initiatives of
TMA and the family of medicine.
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Be Wise — Immunize is a
service mark of the Texas Medical Association.
Contact: Pam Udall
phone: (512) 370-1382
cell: (512) 413-6807
Brent Annear
phone: (512) 370-1381
cell: (512) 656-7320
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