Hawaii lawmakers are considering legislation that would require a child to have at least one dose of the controversial human papillomavirus, or HPV, vaccine before the seventh grade.

House Bill 1910 and Senate Bill 2316 would allow pharmacists to administer the drug to children between the ages of 11 and 17 and require insurance companies to cover the cost of the vaccine starting in the upcoming school year.

“I think it’s completely crazy,” said South Kona resident Martha Stephens, who has an 8-year-old daughter. “Why would you vaccinate a child for a sexually transmitted disease? They’re not adults. The parents obviously should be the ones to decide. They’re not even old enough to choose to have sex.”

Beginning with the 2017-2018 school year, “no child shall attend seventh grade unless the child presents to the appropriate school official written documentation … showing the child has received at least one dosage of the human papillomavirus vaccine before the date of attendance,” the bills said, adding that the purpose of this act is “to improve the overall health of the population in the state and reduce the incidence of infectious disease and cervical and other cancers.”

The Senate committees on Education and Commerce, Consumer Protection and Health are scheduled to hear the bill today at 9:45 a.m. at the state Capitol, Room 229.

“It’s only controversial if people don’t understand that it’s cancer prevention. People are stuck in a dynamic of thinking it has something to do with encouraging people to be sexually active,” said Sen. Roz Baker (D, South Maui-West Maui), one of the introducers of the bill. “HPV is one of the most prevalent viruses in the human body, and it can be spread by contact; it doesn’t have to be spread by intercourse. This will prevent a number of cancers in both boys and girls, so it’s very important for parents to consider this, and the best time for a vaccination is, of course, before anyone becomes sexually active. A lot of very nasty cancers can be prevented if people are vaccinated.”

University of Hawaii doctors said last year that they were concerned about the state’s “alarmingly low” immunization rate for human papillomavirus, the most common cancer-causing sexually transmitted disease in the United States.

Nearly 30,000 cancers are caused by HPV annually in the U.S. An estimated 20,000 women die each year mostly from cancer of the uterus, while 9,000 men die from cancer of the throat or penis, according to UH.

In Hawaii, only 38 percent of females and 31 percent of males 13 to 17 years of age are fully immunized to protect against HPV, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.