Many parents are squeamish at best when faced with discussing their child's sexuality, but a federal vaccine program is forcing parents to do just that.

Trials of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine show it is almost 100 per cent effective in battling four strains of HPV that are linked to cervical cancer and genital warts.

The only way to contract HPV is via sexual intercourse, and the vaccine is being offered to girls as young as 11 years old in some Canadian schools. Therein lies the controversy.

The 'to vaccinate or not to vaccinate' debate has not hit home in Yukon schools yet, though most parents contacted by the Star were aware of the surrounding issues.

'The topic has not come up in any form at our meetings,' Paul Nordahl, chair of the school council at Jack Hulland Elementary School, said in an interview.

'I have been following the issue in the media, and I still have a large number of questions.

'I have a concern with the speed at which this is being embraced on a large scale. This is a big deal.'

Nordahl has a daughter in Grade 3, and said though she is still quite young in the scope of this debate, the issues still concern him.

'The last time this debate went around was over the distribution of condoms in high schools was it encouraging it or preventing it?'

Gardasil, the brand name of the HPV vaccine, is only effective if administered to girls before they become sexually active, and exposed to any of the four strains of the virus.

The controversy being stirred is whether a vaccine against a sexually-transmitted virus should be administered to girls 11 years old, assuming that any later may be too late, and the girls may already be sexually active.

Grade 6 girls in Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island are slated to receive the vaccine this fall.

British Columbia announced Sept. 20 it will implement its 2008 vaccination plan with Grade 6 girls as well.

Nova Scotia girls in Grade 7 will receive the vaccine this fall, while in Ontario, the vaccinations start for girls in Grade 8. Manitoba, Alberta and the Northwest Territories are trying to decide how to implement an HPV vaccine program at their schools.

New Brunswick, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Nunavut and the Yukon have not issued decisions yet on whether the immunization programs will ever become part of their schools.

The territory's Department of Health and Social Services is waiting on national decisions to guide the discussion here.

Pat Living, a department spokeswoman, said the National Advisory Council on Immunization (NACI) and the Canadian Immunization Committee (CIC) have not yet issued a statement about HPV vaccination programs.

She said although the Territorial Advisory Committee on Immunization (TACI) in the Yukon has discussed HPV vaccine programs, they will not make a decision until NACI does.

'We're not looking right now at introducing this as a school program universally ... but people can get the vaccine by a prescription from their doctor,' she said.

The vaccine is administered in three stages, she said, at a total cost of about $405.

A school vaccine program has not been ruled out entirely, she said, but until Health and Social Services Minister Brad Cathers reviews decisions from NACI and TACI, the choice to vaccinate young girls against HPV is a parent's choice.

Cathers was not available to comment on the issue.