In the United States, 79 million men and women — approximately one in four — are currently infected with the human papillomavirus (HPV). From 2008 to 2012, nearly 40,000 HPV-related cancers occurred annually in the United States. Today, highly effective HPV vaccines could easily reduce these numbers, but only 42 percent of girls and 28 percent of boys aged 13 to 17 have received the vaccine — far below the 80 percent of American adolescents the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) aim to reach. At this event, leaders from the CDC, Texas state government and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center discussed HPV, HPV-associated cancers, life-saving cancer prevention opportunities through HPV vaccination, barriers to HPV vaccination programs and a proposed plan to promote HPV vaccination in Texas.
This panel discussion was the eighth event in the Medicine, Research and Society Policy Issues Series, a joint project of the Baker Institute Center for Health and Biosciences and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Join the conversation online with #BakerHPV.
Agenda
7:30 am — Breakfast
8:00 am — Panel discussion
Welcome
Kirstin R.W. Matthews
Fellow in Science and Technology Policy, Baker Institute
Introduction
Ronald DePinho, M.D.
President, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Panel
Imelda Garcia
Director, Infectious Disease Prevention Section, Texas Department of State Health Services
Lois M. Ramondetta, M.D.
Professor, Department of Gynecologic Oncology, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and Chief, Gynecologic Oncology Division, Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital
Melinda Wharton, M.D.
Director, Immunization Services Division, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Moderator: Umair Shah, M.D., Executive Director, Harris County Public Health