EDMONTON - Alberta is scrambling to come up with a backup plan to vaccinate girls against a virus that causes cervical cancer as more Catholic school boards opt out over a program they say condones premarital sex.
So far at least six of Alberta's 20 Catholic boards have voted against allowing girls in Grades 5 and 9 to be inoculated against HPV in schools. More boards are expected to say no after Calgary Bishop Fred Henry spoke out against the program during a meeting with school trustees.
Ted Paszek, president of the Alberta Catholic School Trustees' Association, said the bishop's message at a meeting last month resonated with many of the boards. About 8,000 girls in the Catholic system are eligible to receive the vaccine this fall.
"The bishop said it would be unacceptable for Catholic schools to be offering this vaccine, that it would tacitly condone premarital sexual activity," said Paszek, who is also president of the Elk Island Catholic School Division, which is to vote on the HPV vaccine this Thursday.
"My guess is that over the next two weeks there will be more Catholic boards across the province that will either be considering it for the first time or reconsidering it at the request of the bishop."
In some cases, Catholic boards that initially agreed to offer the vaccine held a second vote after hearing from Henry and opted out.
The bishop was unavailable for comment.
The backlash against the free school vaccination program is creating problems for Alberta Health. The department is trying to set up clinics outside of schools to ensure that Catholic parents who want their daughters to be protected from the human papilloma virus can get the shots.
But Alberta Health has no idea how many of the Catholic boards will opt out. One possible option is to hold clinics at public health units. The province is also considering an advertising campaign to promote the clinics.
"The medical officers of health are working to find out which schools are going to opt out of the program and then we are going to have to work to ensure that those regions have an alternative," said Alberta Health spokeswoman Shannon Haggerty. "We don't have a time frame yet. We are a little bit behind."
Catholic boards that have opted out so far include Calgary, St. Thomas Aquinas south of Edmonton, Christ the Redeemer south of Calgary, Lakeland, Red Deer and Lethbridge.
Last month, Health Minister Ron Liepert chided Bishop Henry and Catholic trustees over their opposition to the vaccine in schools.
"I think Catholic school trustees and Fred Henry need to answer to the parents as to why they made this decision to put young girls at risk," Liepert said.
Alberta began offering the HPV vaccine to Grade 5 girls in September and will offer it to Grade 9 girls next year - but only with parental consent. The vaccine, which protects against two types of the sexually transmitted human papilloma virus, is being offered in every province.
The debate over the vaccine isn't confined to Alberta, however. At least one Catholic school district in Ontario voted earlier this year not to allow it to be given on school premises.
About 1,300 women contract the virus each year in Canada. About 400 of them die of cervical cancer annually. It is the second most common type of cancer for women between the ages of 20 and 44.
The federal government has made $300 million available to the provinces to pay for the vaccine Gardasil. Alberta's share is $30 million over three years.
Haggerty said the province wants parents with children in Catholic schools to know that they haven't been forgotten.
"We want parents to understand and to stay calm," Haggerty said. "If they want their daughters to have this vaccine, the provincial government is working diligently to make sure that there are alternatives for those girls."
