'I Don't Want To Die': American Cancer Society Pushing 'Cancer-Preventing' HPV Vaccinations With School Starting
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- With school about to start, there is a new big push for the HPV vaccine. It's recommended for all teenagers to prevent six types of cancer later in life. Now, the American Cancer Society has a new mission.
While HPV vaccination rates have improved slightly, there are still millions of children who are not protected.
The American Cancer Society wants to get the vaccine on everyone's back-to-school list.
Joining the group is one South Jersey mother who wants to help other families avoid the heartache she has endured.
"I just kept thinking, I don't want to die," cancer survivor Nicole Valles said.
Valles was just 33 years old when she was diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer.
"It was definitely one of the hardest moments of my life," she said. "I had two young kids at the time."
Her cancer was caused by HPV. Most adults have been exposed to the sexually transmitted infection that only rarely causes cancer.
"I think people don't want to talk about it because it's a sexually transmitted virus," Valles said. "I hope me being here with you today normalizes it. I'm an everyday kind of person. I wasn't out there doing all these crazy things. I'm a mom. I'm a psychotherapist. This is what I do and it can happen to anyone."
Valles wishes the HPV vaccine had been available when she was a teenager. It prevents the virus that also causes throat, anal and penile cancers.
"This is a cancer-preventing vaccine," Dr. David Warshal said. "It is highly effective. It is extraordinarily safe."
Warshal, the head of the division of gynecologic oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper, is working with the American Cancer Society on its awareness campaign called Mission HPV Cancer Free along with Valles.
"I wouldn't have had to go through that if I had the vaccine," Valles said.
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The campaign is aimed at making sure kids are vaccinated as they head back to school.
"Many parents are scheduling appointments for their children," Alesia Mitchell-Bailey, with American Cancer Society, said. "We want HPV vaccination -- that box to be checked off."
"We have a vaccine that is able to sit here and prevent cancer, why would you not vaccinate our children?" Valles said.
The HPV vaccine is recommended for both boys and girls at age 11 or 12 years old.
The CDC says with over 100 million doses given in the United States, the vaccine has a good safety record that's backed by over 10 years of monitoring and research.
