“Why Women Over 27 Need to Know About the HPV Vaccine”

I didn’t know whether to cry or breathe a sigh of relief, so I panicked. Then I called my best friend:

“I have an abnormal smear test.”
“Oh honey, what porridge score?”
“3a. That’s not bad, is it? Is it!??”

I had no clue. Eight out of ten people get HPV (Human Papillomavirus) and yet there is a strange tinge of ignorance about it. I was once having dinner with friends when I started talking about the DTP jab for travel against diphtheria, tetanus, and polio, and my boyfriend at the time exclaimed, “Aaaaah, yes, DTP, that’s that virus in your vagina, isn’t it!” (No honey, just eat your pepperoni pizza). And our so-called politician Thierry Baudet once tweeted that it was clownish to also vaccinate boys against HPV. What I’m about to type now may be a slap in the face to many a penis owner: the penis is an HPV transmitter par excellence. And HPV can cause cervical cancer.

Three duckbills later, I found no indications of a precancerous stage of cancer. In the period that followed, a gynecologist became the gatekeeper of my physical health. The result that followed felt even safer: my body had cleared the virus (maybe I applauded my body when I heard it and maybe that was a bit crazy but that’s what relief can do to a person).

It’s wonderful, this virus-free existence, but somewhere there is still the thought: it can come back. That’s why I felt a little jealous when I heard about the HPV shot for young people, which significantly reduces the chances of infection. Then I thought: if only that vaccine was available when I was young. I always thought that the shot only made sense if you were still a virgin.

Until I yesterday on a petition of the magazine’s editors LINDA. encountered. Their wish: the age limit for vaccination invitations should be raised, so that women between 27 and 30, who are now excluded, can also receive protection. Or the price of the vaccine (450 euros!) must be drastically reduced, so that women can fix it themselves.

The vaccine therefore also works in old age, even if someone is already sexually active and has had HPV. Even as an ex-HPV’er, I hadn’t had a clue until yesterday afternoon, when I stumbled upon the petition by chance, in an idle hour of scrolling.

The tan has to go. The ignorance must be lifted. It’s wonderful, this vaccination program of the RIVM, long live medical science and Dutch health care, thrice hurray, but my generation suddenly turns out to be, for no apparent reason, a between-shore-and-ship group. We run unnecessary risk.

Send women aged 27 and older, the women who are not allowed a free vaccine at the moment, at least a letter stating that a shot can also help us. Shout it from the rooftops, make sure we hear it, push the facts under our noses: we can only protect ourselves if we know about it.