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Media Integrity > Published by Jessica Asato, October 27th 2009 at 3:20 pm

Telegraph are irresponsible on cervical cancer

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Jade Goody died of cervical cancerToday’s Daily Telegraph contains an alarmist headline: “Cervical cancer jab would ‘make girls more promiscuous’.”

The statistics cited in support show:

“Almost one in five girls (19 per cent) also think a boyfriend may expect them to take sexual risks because they have had the jab.”

But there is no evidence that the girls would actually ‘give in’ to their boyfriend’s stupid demands for them to endanger their own health so the use of the word “would” is entirely misleading.

Instead of using that statistic to write the headline “Men force one in five girls to endanger their own health”, the Telegraph decided to follow an editorial line which is medically irresponsible because it could result in fewer girls seeking the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines.

As we know with the recent, tragic death of Jade Goody, cervical cancer kills. It kills quickly and it kills young women. We should be doing everything we can to protect women against this cancer if we can, and yet the Telegraph prefer to peddle their outmoded view that any discussion about sexual health and young people will make them more sexually active.

The poll actually presents some really good news

“79 per cent of girls said having the vaccination reminds them of the possible risks of sexual contact and 93 per cent think it shows they are serious about their own health.”

So if anything, having the vaccine might help to raise awareness among young girls about other sexually transmitted diseases such as chlamydia.

  • http://twitter.com/thedancingflea/status/5202975877 Claire Spencer

    RT @leftfootfwd: Telegraph are irresponsible on cervical cancer says @jessica_asato http://bit.ly/4ujCoz – Agreed, it was a terrible piece.

  • http://twitter.com/jessica_asato/status/5202986402 Jessica Asato

    RT @leftfootfwd: Telegraph are irresponsible on cervical cancer says @jessica_asato http://bit.ly/4ujCoz

  • http://twitter.com/progressonline/status/5203019583 ProgressOnline

    RT Jessica_Asato RT @leftfootfwd: Telegraph are irresponsible on cervical cancer says @jessica_asato http://bit.ly/4ujCoz

  • http://twitter.com/lucyopenshaw/status/5203164837 Lucy Openshaw

    RT @leftfootfwd: Telegraph are irresponsible on cervical cancer says @jessica_asato http://bit.ly/4ujCoz

  • http://twitter.com/sarahditum/status/5203281472 Sarah Ditum

    Telegraph worried that sex is so safe it might even become popular: http://bit.ly/4ujCoz (Left Foot Forward on HPV vaccine)

  • http://twitter.com/nextleft/status/5204471512 Sunder Katwala

    RT @leftfootfwd: Telegraph are irresponsible on cervical cancer says @jessica_asato http://bit.ly/4ujCoz

  • http://twitter.com/lovehstyle/status/5216528177 Love H Style

    Telegraph are irresponsible on cervical cancer | Left Foot Forward: … “Men force one in five girls to endange.. http://bit.ly/2DofMr

  • http://twitter.com/t1mmyb/status/5224563406 Tim Beadle

    RT @sarahditum: Telegraph worried that sex is so safe it might even become popular: http://bit.ly/4ujCoz (Left Foot Forward on HPV vaccine)

  • http://www.malcolmcoles.co.uk malcolm coles

    Hi, I’ve been running a campaign to inject some sense into google’s results when you search for info on the cervical cancer jab. To take part, you just need to add some links to some relevant NHS pages in order to help them do better when people search.
    You can read more about how to take part and why here:
    http://www.malcolmcoles.co.uk/blog/cervical-cancer-jab-please-hel/

    Thanks (let me know if you do add a link and I’ll add you to my thanks list!)

  • http://thegooddr.wordpress.com Alison Sheppard

    Grr! We expect rubbish spin & scaremongering from a tabloid but not from a broadsheet! For goodness sake, it’s a safe vaccine that will save lives AND empower young women to feel responsible for their health. It seems like irresponsible journalism to me – aimed at causing hysteria among middle class parents.

  • Sgt Skepper

    Woah woah! “Men force one in five girls to endanger their own health”???

    Read the original quote again: “Almost one in five girls (19 per cent) also think a boyfriend may expect them to take sexual risks because they have had the jab.” Perhaps the headline should read “One in five girls think men will expect them to endanger their own health”. Perhaps ask the men first before assuming these girls are correct in their assumption.