Letters to the Editor

HPV vaccine should not be mandated

Dear editor:

Over the last six months a lot of advertising has been done about the HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccine. Several states have been pressured by a multi-million-dollar lobbying campaign to make this vaccination (and the companies profits) mandatory in order to attend school. As a women's health specialty physician I would like to provide counsel on this issue from a purely medical perspective. It is not my intent to address social or moral concerns regarding this vaccination in this letter.

Vaccinations as a whole have prevented numerous diseases and saved countless lives. As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, definitely applies with many of the successful vaccination programs in the United States and worldwide. However, what if a vaccination only protected 1 in 7 of those vaccinated against the disease? Would it be appropriate to mandate such a vaccination to everyone and give them a false sense of protection, especially when the disease was only communicable by sexual contact? That is the case with the present vaccination series Gardisil. It only conveys protection for four of the 28 or more HPV types. The commercials don't tell you this. Rather they state that you are protecting your loved ones from cervical cancer, when in fact you are just decreasing their risk. It's really like not letting your kids drive the car one day a week and believing that they are now safe from having an accident.

If we require this vaccination series today, what will happen in 13 years when they add on 23 more of the HPV viral types? Will every young girl be required to undergo the same series again to be protected against six or seven HPV viral types? What about nine or 10 viral types? In the worse case scenario a drug company could add one or two new viral types every five years and maintain its patent for decades! And with young girls required to have the vaccines in order to go to school they would have a guaranteed source of income presently at $360 for the series of three shots over six months.

As a gynecologist I do welcome such advancements as this vaccination, even when somewhat limited in their scope. However the mandatory vaccinations imposed by just a few states have made it impossible to get this vaccination in our area for high risk patients who could really benefit from it. Instead 9- and 10-year-old girls are being forced to get a vaccination that only received limited testing in this younger age group and only covers four of 28 HPV viral types. When the vaccination does cover the majority or all of the 28 HPV viral types, it may be worthwhile, medically, to consider mass vaccination of our children.

Sincerely,

Scott Beard MD, FACOG

Nevada

Support for the law enforcement sales tax

Dear editor:

Tuesday, Feb. 27, I attended the meeting to disseminate information about the proposed half-cent sales tax increase for law enforcement. Mrs. Sharon Sanderson had set up a lovely table of refreshments with coffee, tea, doughnuts and cookies.

Sheriff Ron Peckman and deputy Dan Miller represented county law enforcement. Judges McBeth and Bickel were there, as were Neal Gerster and Bonnie McCord from the Vernon County Commission, and Cherie Roberts, Vernon County assessor. It was great to see former sheriff Ted Thomas, too.

Just prior to the beginning of the meeting I asked our sheriff if the proposed jail was a Chevy or a Cadillac. I was promised an answer later.

The artichitect, Lawrence T. Goldberg gave his presentation after sheriff Ron Peckman gave his slide show of the condition of the jail now and why the federal government has not closed it down, I don't know.

The only persons whose crimes warrant being held in such terrible quarters are child molestors.

To operate efficiently the sheriff's office must have computers and all sorts of communication equipment. All that necessary wiring looks like a rats nest. When it rains, the sheets of plastic and buckets come out. The roof is beyond repair.

That is not surprising since that building is 97 years old. It was a post office, then the county bought it in 1963, and then sheriff Wayne Pursley locked up the first prisoner in that jail in 1964.

Architect Goldberg then answered my question. He said the jail would be a Chevy, but the locking capabilities would be Cadillac! He stated that he had built 111 jails, and there had never been an escape from any of them. He also said creature comforts were not priority one. He said the jail would be concrete and steel; the bunks and commodes would also be steel.

The beginning salary of Vernon County deputies is $19,000. Sheriff Peckman gets them trained, then they move on to better paying positions. Three former deputies now work on the Nevada police force. The deputies should be paid at least a living wage, $19,000 isn't it.

I respectfully request that each registered voter vote yes, for the half-cent law enforcement sales tax.

Now there is also another issue on the April ballot that ticks me off to no end. No one likes taxes, but when there is a crying need like the county jail and deputy salaries, folks step up and vote yes. Now why in the world would the ambulance board place a request for a half cent sales tax increase on the same ballot. The ambulance headquarters was moved into the quarters on Walnut in 1996. The building was new. The jail was built in 1910. The ambulance board said it would eliminate the property tax for ambulance board only.

There is no pressing need for the ambulance entity to receive three times what they now get from the property tax. They also have a contract for the bus service to grocery stores and doctors appointments. Patients who use ambulance service pay quite handsomely for the transport. It is my understanding that the ambulance district has a sizable savings account. It seems to me they have a "dog in the manger" attitude; if law enforcement gets more money, I want mine too!

If you feel that a half-cent sales tax is all you can vote for, please vote for the law enforcement tax!

Those incidentals that the ambulance district threatens to stop, don't matter much one way or the other except for the Christmas toy drive. And I'm sure others would quickly fill the void if that occurred.

Vote yes on the law enforcement on the half cent sales tax please.

Thank you,

Mary J. Proffitt

Vernon County