I read with interest an article by Frank Gale entitled “Cancer treatment specialist believes prevention is the key,” which was published in The Western Star on July 17.

In this news article, Mr. Gale writes: “Cases of cervical cancer, which are caused by viruses, are on the rise.”

However, this statement doesn’t make it clear that cervical cancer is caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV).

Dr. Harald zur Hausen, professor emeritus and recent chairman and scientific director at the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg, Germany, won the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of “human papilloma viruses causing cervical cancer.”

Mr. Gale also writes: “Ganguly talked about genital human papillomavirus (HPV), noting that males are the only carrier of it but they do not suffer from it...”

In fact,  males can also develop HPV-related diseases such as genital warts, penile cancer and anal cancer.

I would also like to mention that the HPV vaccine is currently being made available in Newfoundland schools.

The vaccine was approved in Canada in 2006 for females between nine and 26 years of age for the prevention of cervical cancer, vulvar cancer, vaginal cancer, precancerous lesions and genital warts caused by the four vaccine HPV types: 6, 11, 16 and 18.

These four HPV types cause the most clinical disease, including 90 per cent of all cases of genital warts, 55-72 per cent of vulvar and vaginal cancers and 70 per cent of all cervical cancers.

 Sheila Murphy, manager, public affairs, Merck Frosst Canada Ltd.