Americans across the country continue to countdown to Election Day, constantly checking who's in the lead and according to what poll. Even the world is watching, as is evident in blogs and comments left on YouTube pages related to the present elections. In the meantime, I recognize that there other issues that haven't really been discussed, including immigration.

Neither of the candidates seem to have really addressed this issue, or even mentioned it briefly in an ad or at their respective conventions. McCain had crossed party lines with S1433: McCain-Kennedy Immigration bill, advocating for immigration reform-- why hasn't he made this a selling point in defense of his "maverick" reputation. Would raising the issue of immigration/immigrant rights at a time when terrorism and a fragile economy vis-a-vis Wall Street on the national level on gas prices on the local level, make immigrants (code: people of color), the very people McCain advocated for in this bill, a scapegoat for our nation's current worries?

Merck, one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies, issued a call for mandatory HPV vaccination of immigrants. There are ethical issues to be considered: there is no evidence to prove the efficacy of the vaccine, nor a process in place to determine how the vaccination will be regulated/enforced. If we vaccinate immigrants, will they have access to health care services if the vaccine results in adverse side effects?

Merck's Gardasil Is Required For US Immigrants
By Ed Silverman // September 22nd, 2008 // 1:43 pm
Pharmalot
www.pharmalot.com

The debate over mandatory vaccination for the controversial
HPV vaccine has taken an interesting twist. As it turns out, the US
Department of Homeland Security is requiring girls and young women who
immigrate to the US to get the Gardasil jab, TheStreet.com reports.

( Link:
http://www.thestreet.com/story/10438114/1/us-requiring-controversial-vaccine.html)

And Homeland Security's US Citizenship and Immigration Services is the
first government agency to mandate that all females ages 11 to 26
years old be vaccinated against HPV, which can cause cervical cancer.
Although only one dose is required, compared with three doses Merck
says is needed for effectiveness. There is no requirement, by the way,
for any other visa holders or US citizens.

Since the policy was begun, an estimated 233,000 females ages 11 to 26
entered the US as prospective citizens and paid a combined $52 million
or so for one dose, based on the $223 cost for one treatment borne by
the typical UK emigrant and average numbers taken from the Department
of Homeland Security's "Yearbook of Immigration Statistics" over a
four-year period, The Street writes.

"I am stunned. It was not the intention of the policy to mandate
vaccination of immigrants," John Abramson, who was chairman of the
CDC's Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices when the
requirement began in April 2007, and an opponent of mandatory
vaccination, tells the Street. "This is not a disease that is
communicable like SARS or pandemic flu or even measles."

More than 20 states backed down from plans, supported by Merck, to
make Gardasil mandatory. Parents and medical experts expressed concern
about safety, perceived encouragement of sexual activity by
youngsters, and effectiveness, TheStreet reminds us. Texas, for
instance, rejected an executive order to mandate vaccination, and
Virginia and Washington, DC, have opt-out clauses.

No opt-out provision exists for immigrants, TheStreet notes. The USCIS
enforces CDC vaccination guidelines prepared by the Division of Global
Migration and Quarantine, which refers to the Immigration and
Nationality Act, or INA, as the legislation requiring the
recommendations of the ACIP to be implemented. A Homeland Security
spokesman declined to comment to TheStreet.

The State Department's form DS-3025, or "vaccination documentation
worksheet," says vaccination against "Human Papillomavirus is required
for US immigrant visa applicants." Here is the form.

Charlotte Haug, editor in chief of the influential Journal of the
Norwegian Medical Association, tells TheStreet "this is very
surprising and makes no sense. Whether this vaccine works is still
being discussed." Ironically, Merck isn't aware of the Homeland
Security policy, according to a Merck spokeswoman.