The Citizen, 2008-03-20, Page 1The CitizenVolume 24 No. 12 Thursday, March 20, 2008 $1.25 ($1.19 + 6c GST)Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County
Inside this week
Pg. 7
Pg. 8
Pg. 11
Pg. 18
Pg. 19
Polar Ice takes
championship
Atom Girls claim
WOAA title
Congregation
gathers in Brussels
Green ogre visits
Early Years
Blues, romance in
store for music
lovers
For more than 20 years The
Citizen with our readers assistance,
has recognized deserving
individuals in Brussels and Blyth
with the annual Citizen of the Year
award.
Those selected from a list of
nominees submitted each year have
included community leaders,
dedicated volunteers and people
who exemplify generosity and
kindness.
There is a great number of
residents who are worthy of the
honour, who give of themselves or
their time in many ways. While only
one can be chosen, it won’t happen
if names are not presented for
consideration.
For the past several weeks, a
nomination form has been included
in The Citizen. Unfortunately to
date, there have only been two
nominations received, both for
Brussels.
Names that have been submitted
in the past are only considered for
the current year if they are
submitted again. So if you
nominated someone last year, and
they weren’t chosen, please enter
the name again. This, as well as any
earlier nominations, will then be
included in the package for the
selection committee.
The deadline for nominations has
been extended to April 30. Let’s
make the committee’s job difficult
and make sure that as many worthy
individuals as possible are presented
for their consideration.
Looking
for
Citizens
There is still time for girls in
Grade 8 to receive the Human
Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. But
not much.
Research has shown a link
between certain HPVs and cervical
cancer. As such the government
announced funding to begin a
vaccination program for Grade 8
girls to be administered through the
health units.
Currently 50 per cent of the
female Grade 8 students in the
county have had the vaccine, said
public health nurse Christina
Taylor. Done as a series of three,
there is still time until the end of
April for parents to decide they
would like their daughter to receive
the shot.
“Those who came on board in the
beginning are ready to begin the
third round. We are asking parents
who haven’t had their daughter
vaccinated to re-think their
decision.”
After April it will be too late for
the current Grade 8s to begin the
series at no cost to themselves.
“This is a great opportunity for
parents.”
To have a child vaccinated later
will cost the family $405.
Some benefit plans may cover the
vaccination for those who didn’t
take advantage of the program, said
Taylor.
Funding has been provided for
three years and Taylor believes that
Huron’s uptake will need to
increase before that will be
extended. The percentage of
vaccinated girls on the east coast is
80 per cent, she added.
HPV is a common virus
responsible for most cases of
cervical cancer. According to
information from the Canadian
Women’s Health Network (CWHN)
HPV viruses are fairly common. An
estimated 70-80 per cent of
sexually-active Canadians carry the
virus at some time in their life.
Most people don’t know they
have it because there are usually no
symptoms. And the body’s immune
system usually rids of HPVs on its
own within a year or two.
Not every women with HPV will
develop cervical cancer.
However, said Taylor, cervical
cancer is the only cancer that has
been related to a virus.
And it was this knowledge that
prompted the government to
provide funding to implement a
vaccination program.
According to Taylor HPVs affect
the cells. “Some get deeper into the
cells and change them. That’s why
it’s usually those in their 30s, 40,
and 50s where we’re seeing the
cancer. If you get it as a young
person you won’t know.”
Regular pap smears monitor the
size and shape of the cells and pick
up changes, said Taylor.
Abnormalties that last over time are
cause for concern. The best that
could be hoped for at this point
would be detection, not prevention.
This is the reason that the
vaccination program has targeted
Grade 8 girls. “It’s really difficult to
tell if someone has had HPV
infection,” said Taylor. “If we
protect them prior to sexual contact
then we know we are going to get
the best results.”
The CWHN explains that a
person need not be promiscuous to
contact HPV. It only takes one
sexual encounter to become
infected. An abnormal pap test
result could be the outcome of
unprotected sexual activity from
many years before. Some
researchers, they say, think that
unprotected early first intercourse is
a more important risk factor than
how many partners a person has
had.
According to studies, said Taylor,
26 per cent of 14-19-year-olds have
sexually-transmitted diseases.
Sixteen per cent have HPV.
“This virus is not just spread from
genital to genital contact. It can be
spread by the fingers or orally. It’s
all about actions that teenagers will
be embarking on.”
“This is the time to start
conversations with your daughters.
Strongly explain about their
choices, the vaccine and what it
means to them. This is an illness
that may hit your daughter when
she is 30 with children of her own.
She could leave those children
behind. We’re talking about being
pro-active now, explaining to them
that the unwise choices they make
now may affect them as an adult.”
Public health nurse Monika
Sawczuk suggests approaching the
issue as any parental decision. “You
have to deal with and plan for your
child’s future.”
While the health professionals
believe strongly in the vaccine, they
understand different points of view.
“We respect the decisions of
parents. We will work with them to
make sure they know the options
fully,” said Taylor.
“Vaccines were created to
decrease the severity of illnesses
that claimed many lives in the past.
That we are able to create a vaccine
that can prevent cancer is
remarkable.”
Hosting an audience of over 60
residents, Huron East council
updated Brussels on the plans for its
library on March 11, armed with
new designs and a definite location.
With just under 20 people voting
on the fate of the library at the last
public meeting, this meeting saw
attendance triple with people eager
for information.
Deputy-mayor Bernie MacLellan
gave the audience a brief recap as to
the steps, all eight of them, Brussels
and Huron East have taken to get to
this point. Interior and exterior
designs ideas, prepared by Chris
Blake of Blakestyle Design and
Drafting Brussels, were presented.
As well there was an update on the
land-swap proposal presented to
council last month.
THE LOCATION
A petition circulated by Brussels
resident Kathy Nichol proposed a
straight land swap for the former
Workman property for the former
site of the recently demolished
Brussels Country Inn.
In addition to the 154 signatures
presented on the petition to council,
many people at the meeting
expressed their hopes that the library
would be placed on the main street.
MacLellan, who chaired the
meeting, along with mayor Joe Seili,
insisted that having the library on the
main street was a priority of theirs
too, but not at the cost of the
proposed land swap.
MacLellan said that while the full
details of the proposal could not be
revealed, the municipality figured to
lose at least $75,000 in the deal.
While it was initially thought that
the swap would be one vacant lot for
the other, MacLellan said that not
Preventative medicine
Ally, a student, receives the HPV vaccination from public health nurse Christina Taylor. With
just a little over a month remaining for Grade 8 girls to receive the shot at no cost, the health
unit is encourating parents who did not participate in the program when it first began to re-think
their decision. HPV is known to cause cervical cancer later in life, and it is believed that
vaccinating young girls against the virus could save some lives down the road. (Bonnie Gropp
photo)
Still time for HPV vaccinations
By Bonnie Gropp
The Citizen
And the
library
talks
continue
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 6