Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D) on Thursday at Eastern Virginia Medical School said he will sign a bill (HB 2035) that would require girls beginning Oct. 1, 2008, enrolling in the sixth grade to receive a human papillomavirus vaccine, the Virginian-Pilot reports (Young, Virginian-Pilot, 3/2). Merck's HPV vaccine Gardasil and GlaxoSmithKline's HPV vaccine Cervarix in clinical trials have been shown to be 100% effective in preventing infection with HPV strains 16 and 18, which together cause about 70% of cervical cancer cases. FDA in July 2006 approved Gardasil for sale and marketing to girls and women ages nine to 26, and CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices later that month voted unanimously to recommend that girls ages 11 and 12 receive the vaccine. GSK in April plans to file for FDA approval of Cervarix, and it expects approval by the end of this year. The legislation, which was approved by the General Assembly last month, would require parents to be given information about the HPV vaccine, after which they could request that their daughter not receive it (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 3/1). If Kaine signs the bill, Virginia would become the second state to mandate HPV vaccination and the first to do it through a legislative measure, the AP/Richmond Times-Dispatch reports (AP/Richmond Times-Dispatch, 3/1). Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) on Feb. 2 signed an executive order mandating HPV vaccination for sixth grade girls beginning in September 2008 (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 2/23). Kaine on Thursday said he predicts the law is "going to be a model for other states to follow," adding that it will be easy for parents and guardians to opt out of the requirement. "I think [the bill] strikes the right balance," he said (Virginian-Pilot, 3/2).

Letter To Editor
"HPV falls well outside the appropriate criteria for mandatory vaccination," and it is "disappoint[ing]" that the Virginia General Assembly approved the mandate, U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) writes in a Washington Times letter to the editor. Gingrey writes that he has introduced a bill (HR 1153) in Congress that would prohibit federal dollars from funding mandatory state HPV programs, such as the program approved by the Virginia General Assembly. "While states should certainly help families afford [an HPV vaccine], parents should be free to choose if vaccination is right for their daughters," he writes, concluding, "We can't cede this important health care choice to overzealous state legislatures" (Gingrey, Washington Times, 3/2).