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First, what we know: HPV is t considered the wodd's most preva- lent SIT, with over 140 strains iden- tified. Currently the vaccine his been shown to be protective against the four most virulent strains, those associated with 70 per cent of cervical cancers and 90 per cent of genital warts. IO . WAl‘hRuX) CHRONICLE . Wednesday February 15,1008 1am responding to last week's let ter about pesticides from a man who obviously loves his lawn steroids. Mother Nature has been in charge of this planet for at least 4 1/2 billion years, and has done a really good job. Oh. yes, there have been setbacks: ice ages, meteor impacts, and the like, but the flora and fauna ofthis planet have man- aged to bounce back each time in new and creative ways. I think someone must have quoted God out ofcontext at an ancient press scrum when it was decided to state that "Man was given dominion over the earth." What deity in his right mind would have put a bunch of slightly evolved apes in charge of some- thing so precious as the earth? Look at the mess we've made. Manicured monoculture of grass, each blade trimmed to exact specifications, no insects, no wild- flowers ... now that's a wasteland. Obviously. Mr. Snider has never seen the glory of an untamed mountain meadow and, guess what, no pesticides were used in the making of this miracle. A: a mother of four daughters ges 14 through 21, I know only too well the dilemma current- ly facing parents over the question of giving consent to the proposed HPV (human papilloma virus) vac- cination program. The virus or the vaccine - not a case of either, or At first glance, it would seem an easy choice: the vaccine offers pro- tection again HPV, the primary risk factor linked with several sexually transmitted infections Cms), including cervical cancer. Because a large percentage of women start to become sexually active in their teens, it seems logical to vaccinate them before the risk presents itself. But as they say, "the devil is in the details." Notwithstanding the extensive amount of controversial press the issue has generated, there are a number of serious issues that the public should be aware of before giving carte blanche to a wide- spread inoculation. What we don't know, however, is how long the protection will last. Or. more troubling if it is even safe in this age group. There is another issue here, one that is equally disturbing: the grow- ing sense of urgency in our society to medicate everything. As a com- munity pharmacist for almost 30 years, I can speak first-hand of the "feeding frenzy" faced across the dispensary counter each day. I have come to see that, regrettably, 'Lawn steroids' not needed to make untamed miracles Shirley Fowley Waterloo our health-care model has evolved my daughters. I urge each of you to Into a system primarily focused on consider the same. disease management. Illness has become the norm; in essence, we Carole Beveridge have replaced physiology (health) Waterloo with pathology (disease). A - - _ . Personally. it became loo alarm ing to continue in such a model. I sold my pharmacy practice to pur- sue working more directly with women's health issues. HPV is not the only risk factor linked with cervical cancer: family history, smoking, HIV, chlamydia infection. diet low in fruits/vegeta- bles and obesity are all sited on the Canadian or American Cancer Society websites. But by far the biggest risk factors include use of oral contraceptives (one study showed a fourfold increase with greater than 10-year use), having sex at an early age and having mul- tiple sexual partners. Since the advent of the vaccine, however, these seem to be getting little attention, suggesting, as some would see it, that this program is but camouflage for encouraging unprotected sexual activity. hs the Globe and Mail Story of Sept 15 asked, "Ufe saver, or license to have sex?" Condoms are the only type of contraception that offer any real protection against the onslaught of STIs that society is confronting Not only HPV and its associated issues, but chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis and, of course, HIV/AIDS. The message that could be inferred by public funding vacci- nation is more protective than encouraging safe sexual practices. And for a young, often headstrong population, that message is para- mount to a "thumbs up" attitude, with an epidemic of sns potential- ly waiting in the wings. None of us has all the answers, . but if it is true that "the best offence is a good defense," then here is the defense I offer my own four daugh- ters: Encourage a diet of organic, locally grown produce with mini- mum meat, dairy or sugar. Routine exercise] sauna to encourage sweating and elimina- tion of toxins, Make time each day for family, friends, laughter and gratityit. Avoid wi, of plastiés and other xenoestrogens. including oral con- traceptiyes. Slipplemem with probiotics and "green" drinks to optimize immune function and alkalinity. Supplement with a nutraceuti cal to support healthy estrogen metabolism pathways. Employ séfe sextial practices, including routine condom use. I do not make these recommen- dations lightly. I know first-hand how high the stakes can be, with the loss of a mother at age 52 to malignant melanoma and nearly a sister three years ago to cervical cancer. But it was Pasteur himself - the father of microbiology -- who is said to have malized on his deathbed, "The microbe is nothing the terrain is everything." Tivo-hundred years later, we still have not grasped this fundamental principle: it is the terrain/the Phys- iology/the health of the individual that is the primary fnihsence for disease risk. As a parent and health-care pro- fessional. lam doing what I can do ensure a healthy terrain for each of LETTERS TO THE CHRONI( Aguick solution is available to ‘in council to get around their disagreement with staff on where to find $500,000 in savings for a new infrastructure fund. They merely have to stop wast- ing taxpayers' money fluoridating the water supply. Waterloo is the only municipali- ty in this region to Moridate its water. The others don't report sig- nificant differences. Public health reports indicate that Kitchener has a one per cent higher incidence of tooth decay in school children. Fluoridé is effective at prevent- ing tooth decay when applied topi- Dentists will, in certain cases. paint tooth surfaces to prevent caries. They don't administer it as a liquid to be swallowed. They don't inject it, On the tooth's surface, fluoride kills bacteria which form plaque and subsequently attack tooth enamel. The sodium fluoride also acts on the tooth itself to slow dem- ineralization and/ or re-minemlize the surface. Neither of these processes can occur from a medication that you ingest _ - - _ A What is the physiological process by which it is carried from the gut to the tooth's surface? As Coun. With argued, "You don't drink suntan lotion to prevent sun- burn. " Access to fluoride today is easy for those who feel they need it by way of toothpaste and mouthwash of a pharmaceutical grade. Fluo- ride should be a matter of informed choice between individu- als and dentists. The fluoride in toothpaste and in oral rinses is not the same as what is being put in our water. The fluoride used in Waterloo's drink- ing water is hydrof1uorosilicic acid (HFSA). a compound byproduct of phosphate and fertilizer produc- tion. This hazardous material that cannot legally be released into the atmosphere is produced by inject- ing water and sulfuric acid into the gases in the smoke stack scrubber. The liquid washed out of the scrubber at that point is about 23 per cent hydrofluorosilicic acid. Other chemicals are present, notably trace elements of lead and arsenic - both accumulate in the human body. The HFSA used is not pharmaceutical grade. The fluoride in toothpaste is sodium fluoride and generally is a safer and more stable compound, yet on the pack- age you will find a caution about swallowing it. If you an affluent, you will always have a choice. You don't have to gamble and can buy a reverse osmosis system. But if you are not, what choice do you have? Does the city have the right to medicate all its citizens, those who consent and those who do not? If the city's water is fluoridated by policy, what choice do you have? Thus, we have a situation where the city is imposing an ineffective system, at considerable cost, on all its citizens, willing or unwilling Stop fluoridating and save money ”ind Catholic school Esme board has only itself rink: to blame which may harm any one of them How many may be harmed? How many can you afford to have harmed? Flouridation is not necessary. it provides no benefit that cannot be derived from other sources. pull Kee",' Iuert deos to Fred Snider and Alan uerbach for showing skepti- cism about the justification of the proposed city-wide pesticide ban. and the "scientific evidence" thrown around carelessly by its partisans. Scientific evidence has to be demonstrated quantitatively on the basis of appropriately applied probability theory and statistical hypothesis testing. Such proce- dures, useful as they are. often pro- duce, however, borderline results, allowing axe-grinders to twist them to fit their political agenda. How do we know that unassail- able numerical evidence has, indeed, been obtained for the car- cinogenic effect of pesticides on a large segment of population? Proponents of a full ban have so far conveniently omitted to men- tion that properly administered and controlled applications of pes- ticides, already exercised by some lawn-care companies, would be an acceptable compromise between healthy lawn lovers and riders of the ban-bandwagon. "giy'Jg'gr,'le can D out his weeds Should a full ban materialize, many of us would be pleased to invite its proponents to pull the plethora of weeds out of our lawns, and stomp out the insects, whose infestation would be guaranteed in no time. Iread with interest the article in last week's Chronicle, in which the chair of the Waterloo Region Catholic School Board lamented that his board is facing a $400,000 shortfall in student transportation funding because the province has failed to address shortcomings in its transportation funding formula since 1997. Board chairWayne Buchholtz indicates that he feels ministry offi- cials "just stall continuously" on a new tdhding formula for trans- portation. Further, he states that this is a "major issue" for his board because it means money has to be pulled from other areas of the budget to pay for transportation. Well, Mr. Buchholtz, welcome to the other side. Many public school boards have been faced with this exact problem as a result of the inadequate transportation funding model for years, while the majority of Catholic boards, which have tended to be more proftigate with their distance policies, have received higher proportionate grants and so did not find them- selves in the same situation. The Waterloo public board, in fact, has annually faced a trans- portation shortfall in the neigh- bourhood of SI .2 million for the NICL] lim Gilhuly Waterloo Tom Fahidy Waterloo last six years What is most ironic about Mr, Buchholtz's complaint is that it was due in large part to the protesta- tions of Catholic board officials that the province shelved a new formula that it had been prepared to launch in 2004. At the time. Buchholtz's prede- cessor, Louise Ervin, was among those Catholic hoard officials cry- ing that the proposed new formula was "anti-Catholic" because it forced separate boards to stop using generous distance policies as a means of propping up their enrollment. True, the formula proposed in 2004 (originally drafted by the Con servative government under then Education Minister Elizabeth Wit- mer), would have seen 17 of Ontario's 30 Catholic boards lose transportation money, while only seven of the province's public boards took a hit. But at the end of the day, the effect ofthe new formula would have been to encourage cotermi- nous boards tsuch as the two Waterloo Region boards) to agree upon standardized walking dis- tances within their jurisdiction. And that would have been the right thing to do. Simply put, how far our children are expected to walk to school should not depend on whether we are Catholic or PtotestanL But under the existing formula - which has been perpetuated because of separate board cries of "wolf" - Catholic Grade 7 and 8 students in Waterloo Region walk only 1.6 kilometres before they are bused, while their public-school counterparts walk up to 3.5 kilome- tree (more than twice the distance) before they are eligible for a ride. Similarly. local public high- school students must walk 4.8 kilo- metres, while Catholic secondary students walk only 3.2 kilometres The proposed formula would have equalized each board's fund- ing. making it easier for cotermi- nous boards to adopt similar dis- lance rules. Once funding was made equi- table, some boards would have had extra dollars with which they could then lower distances; while other boards which had been overly gen- crous with their distance policies . may have had to consider meeting their coterminous board halfway. Locally. that might have meant that both boards agreed to cap the walking distance for Grade 7 and 8 students at 2.5 kilometres and the distance for high-school students at four kilometres. It is also important to note that the proposed formula was not based solely on distances. It also provided boards with the flexibility to address other issues such as safety when the shortest walking route was deemed haz- ardous, and "local priorities," such as lower distances for kindergarten students and additional funding for transportation of special needs students. The formula proposed in 2004 was not perfect, but it was a step in the right direction. Now that the Waterloo Catholic board is faced with a similar budget pinch to that of its public counterpart, it has only itself to blame. Waterinb