Needed Protection

A federal study on teen sexual disease underlines the need for the HPV vaccine.

EFFORTS TO REQUIRE the vaccination of girls against the human papillomavirus have stalled. More than 20 states and the District of Columbia took up the issue, but only Virginia and the District ultimately passed laws that made the HPV vaccine a condition for admission to school. The startling findings of a new government report should reinvigorate the debate. It's clear that much more needs to be done to deal with the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases in young girls.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report this month showing that one in four teenage girls has at least one of four common sexually transmitted diseases. HPV, which can cause cervical cancer and genital warts, is the most prevalent, with 18 percent of the girls infected. The other diseases were chlamydia, trichomoniasis and genital herpes. The study, the first of its kind, should serve as a wake-up call to those in denial about the sexual activity of today's young people -- not to mention the dangers they face. The admonitions of abstinence-only education, while laudable, are not being heard. Instead, as the CDC said in calling STDs a public health epidemic, there must be better education, more screening and other preventive strategies.

The case for the HPV vaccine is clear-cut. This vaccine was rigorously tested and won federal approval, and its effectiveness is undisputed. A backlash of sorts developed because the notion of vaccinating girls as young as 11 against a sexually transmitted disease made some people squeamish. The average age at which girls first have sexual intercourse is 15, and the vaccine must be administered before that.

Virginia and the District struck exactly the right balance in passing laws -- they take effect in 2009 -- that mandate the vaccine while providing for education and giving parents a chance to opt out. There have been efforts to undo the laws, but thankfully they have been rebuffed. Equally encouraging is the report by Women in Government that even in states that ultimately decided against legislating the vaccine, progress was made in raising awareness about its merits. The hope is that once the vaccine has been in use longer, more states and parents will see the wisdom of its protections.