The Newfoundland Right to Life Association says the government's plan to vaccinate schoolgirls against the human papillomavirus, or HPV, will lead more young people to engage in risky sexual behaviour.

The provincial Department of Health and Community Services announced Tuesday that it would begin a three-year program in September to vaccinate 2,800 Grade 6 girls across the province.

The Newfoundland Right to Life Association describes its mission as "to protect human life at all stages, from conception to natural death."

Patrick Hanlon, president of the association in St. John's, said he's afraid the vaccination program is going to provide young people "a licence, a green light to go ahead and be sexually active … leading to a rise in sexually transmitted diseases and promiscuity in general."

Provincial Health Minister Ross Wiseman said he believes the vaccination program will do more good than harm.

The province chose to target Grade 6 girls, Wiseman said, because research shows many girls begin having sex long before they're adults.

"A point where girls are just on the eve of becoming sexually active," Wiseman says. "Beyond that they become much more sexually active. It's important to get to them before they start." 

The vaccine, Gardasil, protects against four types of HPV, which together cause 70 per cent of cervical cancers and 90 per cent of genital warts. Health Canada approved Gardasil in July for females between the ages of nine and 29 and it will be available for use at the end of August.

The province will spend $4.6 million on the three-year vaccination program, money that was set aside in the 2007 federal budget specifically for the program.

Newfoundland and Labrador follows other Atlantic provinces, as well as B.C. and Ontario, in planning to offer the vaccination to students.