Talking point - should schools offer HPV jabs in school time?

A school in nearby Tottenham has recently provoked a storm of media comment and local discussion by suspending its vaccination programme - including jabs for HPV or Human Papilloma Virus, a virus associated with cervical cancer - during school hours.

Carol Jones, the Head of Hornsey Girls School has said the vaccinations "cause chaos" when administered at the school. DPT booster shots preventing diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus, BCG for tuberculosis, MMR and HPV jabs have all been suspended because of the "significant amount of time out of their lessons" that students equire following vaccination.

Parents of girls at the school have complained that taking students to a doctor for the shots causes even more disruption and time out of school, and that some local GPs do not routinely stock the vaccines. The school's change of policy on the HPV vaccine in particular has outraged cancer awareness campaigners, including the mother of Jade Goody who dies of cervical cancer in 2009.

Jackiey Budden described herself as "disgusted" last week afer learning of the school's move, telling the Evening Standard "[these shots] were introduced to save children, how can a teacher object to that?"

An estimated 233,000 deaths occur each year as a result of complications from the HPV virus, which is also the most common sexually transmitted disease in adults. A national innoculation programme began for girls aged 12-13 across the UK in September 2008; following an extension of the programme all young women aged under 18 have now been offered the vaccine.

Vaccinations at school have been routine for many students since the 1950s. Following the suspension of universal BGC vaccines for school-age pupils in 2005, a serious outbreak of TB took place at a Birmingham school three years ago affecting 30 pupils.

Ms Jones has stated that she does not oppose the vaccine but only wants

the jabs administered outside of school hours. A spokesperson for

Haringey council said, "The council encourages all

schools to facilitate vaccinations for pupils, in line with advice from

the NHS. However, individual governing bodies are entitled to

reach their own decisions about how best to arrange for vaccinations to

be administered."

Do you feel schools have a responsibility to administer the potentially life-saving vaccine in school hours, or do you think vaccinations are the responsibility of parents and carers? How would you feel if your school cancelled its vaccination programme - or has it already done so? Let us know below!

Image: dogfael