Rep Hovey Addresses European Parliament

By Nancy K. Crevier

As the secretary of National Organization of Women in Government, state representative Debralee Hovey (R-Newtown, Monroe) was pleased to have been invited to address officials of the European Parliament, January 21, in Brussels, Belgium, as part of an ongoing campaign to promote cervical awareness in European countries.

“One of the platforms of the National Organization of Women in Government is the eradication of cervical cancer,” said Rep Hovey in a recent interview. “I had gone to Brussels and Geneva, Switzerland, in September and done some very small presentations to the International Cancer Care Initiative, and was invited back by the European Parliament to be one of the keynote speakers at its opening ceremonies in January,” she said. “Speaking to the European Parliament was such a privilege.”

 Her opening address to the European Parliament, “Politics and Cancer Prevention in the United States,” followed on the heels of several press conferences around Connecticut in conjunction with Lt Gov Michael Fedele promoting the eradication of cervical cancer in Connecticut.

“My role in Brussels was to speak to the European Union about how the United States mobilized women legislators here to initiate programs, education, screening, and legislation in each state, as was appropriate. The National Organization of Women in Government has mobilized our nation around cervical cancer awareness and has teamed with national lieutenant governor organizations to make sure women are aware,” said Rep Hovey.

Rep Hovey said that the issue for most European countries is screening for the cancer that, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, results in 33,000 diagnosed cases in the European Union countries each year and 15,000 deaths — about three times the number of women diagnosed in the United States. “There are pockets of women in Europe who realize the importance [of screening and women’s health care] and some countries in Europe with single payer insurance that covers the cost of screening, but across the world women are not given the respect or treated as the valuable commodity that they are in North America,” said Rep Hovey. “It is not the norm for women [in many European countries] to take care of reproductive health. It puts them at more risk for cervical cancer.”

Education about the prevention and treatment of cervical cancer is vital, said Rep Hovey, in the European Union. But even in the United States, where women legislators have worked to inform women about cervical cancer, more education is needed.

“I am introducing legislation this session that would require the Department of Public Health to put together a pamphlet on cervical cancer,” said Rep Hovey. “I am also running it through the Education Committee and my hope is that these two branches will collaborate and get the information into the hands of all sixth grade girls in the state.”

The cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil, approved in 2006 by the FDA for girls ages 11 and 12 as protection against two cancer-causing strains of human Papillomavirus, is also not widely used in European countries, although Reuters News Agency reported last month that Johan Giesecke, chief scientist for The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control stated, “We are saying the vaccine is probably cost effective and should be given to girls before they start their sexual life.” The EUCDPC report also said that Merck & Co Inc’s Gardasil and GlaxoSmithKline’s Cervarix vaccines could best help reduce cervical cancer when used with screening programs.

“The key to eradicating cervical cancer is the screening process,” Rep Hovey reiterated. “My understanding is that those drug companies have made a commitment to provide vaccines to developing countries.” In the United States, she said, a federally subsidized children’s vaccine program covers the cost of Gardasil vaccinations.

Rep Hovey said that she emphasized to the European Union that the eradication of cervical cancer is not a political issue. “It is about men and women, and families. This issue should have not stigma. Not one more woman should die of cervical cancer, because we now have the information to eradicate the disease,” she said.