Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2008
Keywords
Health Law, Health Equity, Health Inequity, Vaccines, Bioethics, Cervical Cancer Vaccine, Human Papillomavirus Vaccine, Technological Innovation, Disproportionality
Abstract
This article explores the relationship between technological innovation and health inequity. It examines in particular the relationship between the vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, the cause of cervical cancer, and inequity in cervical cancer incidence and mortality. In Canada, screening programs have drastically reduced the incidence of cervical cancer, but their benefits have been unequally distributed. Prevention efforts have disproportionately failed women of disadvantaged social groups. Technological innovation alone will not remedy this inequity. The HPV vaccine merely expands the available means for reducing or increasing health inequity depending on its implementation. For this reason, the article looks beyond technological innovation to focus on both the positive and negative health equity effects of the Canadian HPV vaccination strategy.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Joanna Erdman, "Health Equity, HPV and the Cervical Cancer Vaccine" (2008) Spec Ed Health LJ 127.
Publication Abbreviation
Health LJ
