brainwagon

From the “It’s fun to be a Luddite” file, witness this bit of news from the BBC that Merck’s new vaccine to prevent cervical cancer might be available within the year.

Cervical cancer is associated with the human papillomovirus. The drug Gardasil was apparently 100% effective at preventing early stage cancers and pre-cancerous abnormalities, which account for 70% of all cervical cancers, and over a quarter of a million deaths world wide each year.

So why is filed under the “I Kid You Not Section” of my blog?

Researchers believe a vaccine could work best if given before adolescence, but critics fear this could encourage under-age sex.

Yeah, getting stabbed by needles really makes me want to go out and have sex. Who are these critics?

Well, apparently they include Scott Phelps, executive director of Abstinence and Marriage Education Partnership. His comment:

“Sexually transmitted diseases in the United States will not be contained by injecting vaccines into pre-adolescents in anticipation of promiscuous behavior,” Scott Phelps, executive director of Abstinence & Marriage Education Partnership, wrote in a recent statement.

Of course, Scott has yet to tell us exactly how these diseases will be contained.