The Jade Goody legacy has undoubtedly saved lives, but what will be the Michael Douglas effect?

D. Coughlan, I. Keogh, T. O. Connor

Research output: Contribution to journalEditorialpeer-review

Abstract

Public health practitioners' are aware of the mesmeric power of celebrities to generate disease awareness. Indeed, Jade Goody's tragic death in 2009 was likely to be foremost in the minds of Irish parents' decision to vaccinate their girls against cervical cancer. Unintentionally it seems, Michael Douglas, has spectacularly raised awareness of a subset of head and neck cancers (HNC). In a candid interview with the Guardian newspaper on June 2nd 2013, he attributed some throat cancers to oral sex. For the uninitiated the common factor in both stories is the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) - A family of more than 100 virus types that can infect the epithelium of the skin, cervix, vagina, anus, vulva, penis, mouth, and throat.

Original languageEnglish
JournalIrish medical journal
Volume106
Issue number7
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2013

Cite this