WASHINGTON, D.C., December 23, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) -Reacting to the failure of government health agencies to comply with federal law requiring efforts to educate the public about the virus that causes cervical cancer, U.S. Representative Mark Souder, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources, called on the heads of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to testify before his subcommittee on Jan. 28. Public Law 106-554, signed by President Bill Clinton in 2000, directed the CDC to issue by December 21, 2003, a report detailing the best strategies to prevent the spread of human papilloma virus (HPV), the virus that causes cervical cancer. The FDA was directed to ensure that condom labels are “medically accurate” regarding the lack of effectiveness in preventing HPV infection. Neither agency has complied with these legal mandates.
“The CDC and FDA are today in violation of federal law, and the health of thousands of women is at risk as a result,” Souder said yesterday. “We are deeply concerned whenever a federal agency fails to abide by the law, but especially so when the public’s health is threatened. We hope that this hearing will reveal why FDA and CDC have been reluctant to educate Americans about the dangers of HPV and raise awareness about the epidemic.”
About 20 million Americans are currently infected with HPV and an estimated 5.5 million Americans become infected with HPV every year. Nearly all cases of cervical cancer are associated with HPV infection. An estimated 13,000 new cases of invasive cervical cancer are diagnosed annually and over 4,000 women die of the disease every year in the United States. Tens of thousands of others will be treated for HPV related pre-cancerous conditions.
A 2001 report, entitled “Scientific Evidence on Condom Effectiveness for Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Prevention,” prepared by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health in consultation with FDA, CDC and the U.S. Agency for International Development, evaluated the published data on latex condoms and STD prevention. It “concluded that there was no evidence that condom use reduced the risk of HPV infection.”
In related news, The Culture of Life Foundation (CLF) reported today on a recent Project Reality conference that indicated “almost 45% of all (U.S.) teenagers and young adults are infected with at least one STD by their mid-twenties”. As well, CLF reported the conference stated, “the popular claim that ‘condoms help prevent the spread of STDs,’ is not supported by the data. If condoms were effective against STDs, the increase in condom usage would correlate to a decrease in STDs overall, which is not the case. Rather as condom usage increases, so do rates of STDs.” January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month.