The FDA has recently approved two drugs that will have a huge impact to the desi woman community; a) earlier this summer, the approval of the cervical cancer vaccine (or known as the HPV vaccine) and b) last week the approval of Plan B, the emergency contraceptive, as an over the counter drug for anyone over the age of 18. I think that both of these are huge landmark moments for the advancement of reproductive justice in our community.

According to a policy brief distributed by the National Asian Pacific Women's Forum (NAPAWF)...

The vaccine, Gardasil, is 100% effective in preventing the infection of human papillomavirus (HPV) which causes 70% of all cervical cancer cases worldwide. The FDA approved the vaccine for safe use among girls and women ages 9-26. Asian Pacific Islander (API) women will greatly benefit from this new HPV vaccine, given their high rates of cervical cancer, particularly among Vietnamese and Korean women.

In fact, in the U.S. cervical cancer is relatively rare. For many API women, however, lack of health insurance, lack of knowledge about Pap smears and preventive care, and lack of culturally and linguistically appropriate services prevent them from equally accessing the health care system, contributing to their higher rates of cervical cancer.

Although abstinence or faithful lifelong monogamy are the only real full-proof ways to protect against HPV infection, these may not be realistic. Regular Pap smears are perhaps one of the most effective measures to protect oneself against developing cervical cancer. Because HPV is sexually transmitted, experts argue that the vaccine should be administered before adolescents have their first sexual encounter.

To me, it feels like an enormous injustice to know that a disproportionate amount of women in my community will have a higher chance of getting a preventable cancer because of the social stigmas attached to sex in our society, especially as a South Asian American female. When I ecstatically announced the FDAs approval to my mother and declared the need to get all the girls in our extended family here vaccinated, I was met with a, "Isn't HPV sexually contracted? Why would we need to vaccinate then?" I didn't really know how to respond to her. Social stigma of sexuality in our community as a form of birth control and cancer prevention will only take us so far.

As for the approval of the Plan B, emergency contraceptive this week (Abhi had blogged about it's pending last month)...

"The FDA's decision ... is a critically important step in improving the overall health care of API women," said Kiran Ahuja, Executive Director of NAPAWF. "For API women, timely access to EC cannot be understated, given the high number of unintended pregnancy and abortion rates in our community."

National data reveals that 35% of pregnancies end in abortion for API women, the second highest percentage for all racial and ethnic groups. In addition, between 1994-2000, abortion rates fell for all groups except API women. Another study found that over two-thirds of API women are sexually active, yet less than 40% regularly use contraception, increasing their risk of unintended pregnancy and abortion. It is estimated that wider access to EC could reduce the number of unintended pregnancies each year by as much as 50%.

Thirty-six percent of API women under age 65 lack health insurance and do not have a regular source of health care, which creates an enormous barrier to accessing health care services and prescription drugs. Making EC over the counter will now enable these women to have better access to this time-sensitive drug. [link]

I can't imagine even broaching this topic with my mother...I know there is going to be a proportion of readers that think that the both the HPV vaccine and access to EC will only lead to promiscuity amongst our girls. But this is really about the safety of the health of our women, and, disproportionately, our youth. Our youth have rights that need to be protected. I'm glad to see the FDA has approved these drugs, and groups like NAPAWF are reaching out to educate our community. But we need your help too- reach out to a desi sister or even a brother, discuss these issues letting them know the drugs exist, and break down the social stigmas in our society. It's fascinating to me that we've reached a stage where we can easily talk about the distribution of condoms to villagers in India, yet when it comes to discussions on the sexual health of our own South Asian American community, it is still approached with such taboo.

You can change that.Who knows? Maybe by having that discussion, you could be saving someone's life.