Today, Betsy Gotbaum released a report showing that city-run clinics that diagnose and treat sexually transmitted diseases still do not offer vaccinations for HPV, the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States.
HPV is responsible for 70 percent of the country’s cervical cancer cases. In March 2007, the New York City Office of the Public Advocate released a report assessing the availability of the HPV vaccine at city health clinics. The 2007 report found that none of the city’s STD clinics, nor its five immunization centers, offer the vaccine, and that the HPV vaccine was available at 35 of the 67 city-run child and teen health clinics.
The follow-up report found that the cost for the uninsured still varies widely, but that the availability of the HPV vaccine at Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) child and teen health clinics and Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) immunization walk-in clinics has increased.
Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum said, “Every young woman should have affordable access to the life-saving HPV vaccine to reduce the risk of developing cervical cancer. I’m pleased that some city clinics have increased access to this vaccine, but more must be done to keep young women safe from a common, but preventable disease.”
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