HPV affects 8 out of 10 people. If you could prevent it or more health issues would you do it? Here’s what we learned about the HPV vaccine and cancer prevention.
This is made possible with support from the American Cancer Society. All opinions are my own.
Being a mom is hard, especially when making choices about your child’s health! It’s a game of balance: weighing the options—what they need, what they don’t, and how it will affect them in the long run.
When my son was born with a Congenital Heart Defect, I had to immediately make decisions that would affect him for his whole life, including surgeries, scars, and so much more.
I aged ten years in those three weeks.
Thankfully, now he’s 12, and like all parents, I’m faced with a whole new set of decisions to make for him about his health. While I know there are no guarantees, I’ll do whatever I can to ensure he has an opportunity to live his life as healthy as possible.
So when my pediatrician discussed with me that there is a way to help prevent six different types of cancer with the HPV vaccination, I wanted to know more.
According to the American Cancer Society:
- It’s estimated 8 out of 10 people will get HPV at some point in their lives.
- HPV isn’t just a “girl thing.” Every year in the U.S, 35,000 men and women are diagnosed with a cancer caused by HPV.
- About 14 million people, including teens, become infected with HPV annually.
- HPV has no treatment, but a vaccine can prevent it.
The HPV vaccination is considered most effective when given to kids ages 9 – 12.
- While it’s not the answer for everything, the HPV vaccination is cancer prevention and can prevent an estimated 90% of HPV cancers.
As much as he’s already gone through, and all the other things in life I can’t plan for, this was one thing we could do to better his chances at avoiding so much more like HPV and cancer. So for us, it was the best decision for him, and soon it will be the best decision for my daughter.
Get the facts about HPV and cancer from the American Cancer Society.