JEFFERSON CITY—The Senate Health, Mental Health, Seniors and Families Committee today voted to send a bill to the Senate floor that would provide information to students about immunization for human papillomavirus (HPV), which is commonly linked to cervical cancer.
Senate Bill 627, sponsored by Sen. Jolie Justus (D-Kansas City), would provide information regarding immunization against HPV to the parents or guardians of students enrolling in sixth grade at public schools. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services would directly mail age- and gender-appropriate information to the parents or guardians of these students, explaining the connection between HPV and cervical cancer and the availability of the HPV immunization.
The information would include risk factors for developing cervical cancer, the connection between HPV and cervical cancer, how HPV is transmitted, how it may be prevented, and the latest scientific information about the immunization's effectiveness, among other details.
Each mailing would request that parents voluntarily submit a written statement to the department, no later than 20 days after the first day of school, stating that they have received the information and that the student has received the immunization or the parents have decided not to have the student immunized.
For statistical purposes, beginning July 1, 2011, the department would submit a report to the General Assembly detailing the number of sixth-graders who have and have not been immunized against the HPV infection and the number of non-responses to the request for a written statement from the parents.
Senate Bill 627, which is similar to other bills Sen. Justus has sponsored in the past, may now be brought before the full Senate for debate.
The Second Regular Session of the 95th Missouri General Assembly runs through May 14, 2010. For more information about the Missouri Senate, visit www.senate.mo.gov. To contact the Senate Newsroom, call (573) 751-3824 or e-mail newsroom@senate.mo.gov.
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