Editorial Board
How Michael Douglas Helps the Fight Against HPV
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Michael Douglas may have done more for awareness about human papillomavirus than all the education programs health advocates have ever sponsored. The actor revealed this week that his throat cancer was caused by an HPV infection, the result of his having oral sex with an HPV-infected woman.
The HPV problem can certainly use the attention. A dozen or so variants of HPV, the most common sexually transmitted disease, cause cancer. For people who don’t have the virus, vaccines can prevent infection. Yet, the inoculations are underused.