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In
its March, 2007 budget, the Conservative government
included $300 million to be distributed to the provinces
to administer Gardasil, a Human Papillomavirus Vaccine
(HPV) manufactured by Merck Frosst. The drug had been
approved for use by Health Canada in July, 2006.
Since
this drug was approved, however, serious problems with
it have emerged. As a result, REAL Women of Canada has
written to the provincial and territorial Ministers
of Health requesting that the drug not be made available
in their respective provinces. The province of Nova
Scotia, unfortunately, has already gone ahead to make
the drug available to Grade VII students. As a result,
REAL Women has requested that this decision to make
the drug available in Nova Scotia be withdrawn as soon
as possible.
The
problems with the use of Gardasil include the following;
There
is only limited data on the effects of the drug on pre-teen
and early teen-age girls. The drug has been tested on
fewer than 1,200 girls, ages 9 to 15 years, and the
research has been almost exclusively on young women
16 to 23 years of age. This raises questions about the
drug’s efficacy, safety, and long-term effects.
It would appear that any young girl, to whom Gardasil
is to be administered, will be the unwitting subject
of a massive research experiment.
There
is uncertainty as to the length of time the vaccine
will provide protection, and, consequently, if and when
booster shots will be required. It is known that Gardasil
is a prophylactic vaccine that targets the viruses that
lead to cancer, rather than cancer itself, and that
cervical cancer is a slow developing disease. Cancer
data show that the average cervical cancer patient is
47 years of age and that HPV incubates for up to 15
years before becoming cancerous. That is, it manifests
itself when the woman is in her thirties – decades
after young girls may have been administered the vaccine.
There are no data available as to the actual effectiveness
of this drug over this long intervening period of time.
There
are more than 100 types of HPV, about 40 of which can
cause cancer – but the HPV vaccine protects against
only 4 of the HP Viruses.
There
are known side effects to Gardasil, mostly neurological
symptoms, which include severe headaches, dizziness,
temporary loss of vision, slurred speech, fainting (seizures),
joint pain, muscle weakness, and involuntary contraction
of the limbs.
In
the United States, the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting
System (VAERS) has reported 1,261 such incidents. Several
deaths have also been reported. Moreover, the long term
neurological or immune system complications caused by
the drug are completely unknown. It is uncertain if
any of those vaccinated will go on to develop fertility
problems, cancer, or genetic damage: the drug manufacturer,
Merck Frosst, admits, in its product insert, that these
possibilities have not been studied.
According
to Statistics Canada, there are approximately 400 deaths
a year in Canada caused by cervical cancer, whereas
there are 5,400 deaths from breast cancer. The cause(s)
of breast cancer are not yet known. It is known, however,
that HPV is contracted only through sexual activity
and is the most common sexually transmitted disease.
Most HPVs are harmless, while others are self-limited
infections, i.e., they typically disappear within two
years, and most infected individuals do not even realize
they have the virus.
Pap
smears still remain the best tool available for preventing
cervical cancer. If all women received a regular pap
smear, cervical cancer would be virtually eliminated.
Unfortunately, marginalized women, such as those who
are poor, immigrants or minorities and others who lack
access to health care programs that include pap smears,
are greatly disadvantaged. It is they who should be
targeted, not pre-pubescent girls.
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Contact:
C.
Gwendolyn Landolt
National
Vice President
(905)
731-5425, (905) 787-0348
(905)
889-1993
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