A7

By JOHN COTTER
The Canadian Press

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EDMONTON - Alberta is scrambling to come up with a backup plan to vaccinate girls against a virus that causes cervical cancer as more Catholic school boards opt out over a program they say condones premarital sex.

So far at least six of Alberta's 20 Catholic boards have voted against allowing girls in Grades 5 and 9 to be inoculated against HPV in schools. More boards are expected to say no after Calgary Bishop Fred Henry spoke out against the program during a meeting with school trustees.

Ted Paszek, president of the Alberta Catholic School Trustees' Association, said the bishop's message at a meeting last month resonated with many of the boards. About 8,000 girls in the Catholic system are eligible to receive the vaccine this fall.

"The bishop said it would be unacceptable for Catholic schools to be offering this vaccine, that it would tacitly condone premarital sexual activity," said Paszek, who is also president of the Elk Island Catholic School Division, which is to vote on the HPV vaccine this Thursday.

"My guess is that over the next two weeks there will be more Catholic boards across the province that will either be considering it for the first time or reconsidering it at the request of the bishop."

In some cases, Catholic boards that initially agreed to offer the vaccine held a second vote after hearing from Henry and opted out.

The bishop was unavailable for comment.

The backlash against the free school vaccination program is creating problems for Alberta Health. The department is trying to set up clinics outside of schools to ensure that Catholic parents who want their daughters to be protected from the human papilloma virus can get the shots.

But Alberta Health has no idea how many of the Catholic boards will opt out. One possible option is to hold clinics at public health units. The province is also considering an advertising campaign to promote the clinics.

"The medical officers of health are working to find out which schools are going to opt out of the program and then we are going to have to work to ensure that those regions have an alternative," said Alberta Health spokeswoman Shannon Haggerty. "We don't have a time frame yet. We are a little bit behind."

Alberta began offering the HPV vaccine to Grade 5 girls in September and will offer it to Grade 9 girls next year - but only with parental consent. The vaccine, which protects against two types of the sexually transmitted human papilloma virus, is being offered in every province.