Open AccessAnother Look at the Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Experience in Canada
Author(s) -
Catherine L. Mah,
Raisa Deber,
Astrid Guttmann,
Allison McGeer,
Murray Krahn
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.2011.300205
Subject(s) - immunization , human papillomavirus vaccine , human papillomavirus , public health , political science , public policy , vaccination , public relations , medicine , immunology , cervical cancer , law , cancer , gardasil , nursing , antigen
Policy debates about immunization frequently focus on classic trade-offs between individual versus collective well-being. Publicly funded immunization programs are usually justified on the basis of widespread public benefit with minimal individual risk. We discuss the example of the policy process surrounding the adoption of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in Canada to consider whether public good arguments continue to dominate immunization policymaking. Specifically, we show how a range of stakeholders framed HPV vaccination as a personal-rather than a public-matter, despite the absence of a controversy over mandatory immunization as was the case in the United States. Our findings suggest an erosion of the persuasiveness of public good arguments around collective immunization programs in the policy discourse.