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Last
week the Right to Life Association issued a press release
outlining its concerns regarding the provincial government’s
newly announced HPV Vaccination Program. A small controversy
erupted, with many Newfoundlanders quickly adding their
viewpoints.
However,
in the interests of informed consent for all Newfoundlanders,
much more needs to be said about this vaccination proposal
which will see 2,800 grade six girls throughout the
province immunized from the human papilloma virus (HPV),
a virus known to cause many types of cervical cancer.
The province will fund the three year program with its
allotment of $4.6 million from a $300 million federal
total.
At
first glance this appears to be quite a beneficial—even
marvellous—project. Why not take steps to protect
women from a dreaded disease and why not use one more
vaccine, among many, in grade school in order to do
so? But are there reasons to be skeptical of such a
plan? If so, one ought to start first with the most
serious concerns, those relating to the health and safety
of those women who receive the Gardasil vaccine produced
by drug giant Merck Frosst.
According
to the U.S. based National Vaccine Information Center
(NVIC), among the symptoms and illnesses (2200 reported)
of greatest concern associated with Gardasil and reported
to FDA’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System
(VAERS) are death (seven deaths have been filed) and
Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS).
In
describing GBS, NVIC quotes the National Institute for
Neurological Disorders and Stroke: “GBS is a serious
disorder in which the body's immune system attacks part
of the peripheral nervous system. The first symptoms
of this disorder include varying degrees of weakness
or tingling sensations in the legs. In many instances,
the weakness and abnormal sensations spread to the arms
and upper body. These symptoms can increase in intensity
until certain muscles cannot be used at all and, when
severe, the patient is almost totally paralyzed. …
Vaccinations can trigger onset of GBS.”
NVIC
insists that the U.S. Center for Disease Control “should
immediately issue a public advisory to doctors, parents,
and vaccine recipients that Gardasil is associated with
15 reports of GBS in VAERS.” Yet Merck, as well
as Canadian federal and provincial officials, have told
us nothing about this.
Gardasil
has undergone less than four years of testing and relatively
few girls (1200) between the ages of 9 – 15 years
were involved in the testing. More surprisingly, out
of that total, a miniscule number (100) were nine years
old. This does not generate a high level of confidence
in the short term, or even the immediate, safety of
the vaccine. We certainly have no answers about the
vaccine’s long term safety, yet Merck (and our
provincial government) proposes to make this age group
the target population for mass vaccination. It is not
surprising then that some have characterized the vaccination
program as a huge Canadian experiment with young school
girls as the guinea pigs. For example, might one of
the side-effects of this vaccine be to render girls
sterile at some point in the future?
Regarding
the efficacy and costs of Gardasil, some significant
difficulties are also posed. Very importantly, it must
first be noted that HPV infection does not equate to
contracting cervical cancer. The majority of women infected
with HPV—even the high-risk variety—will not
develop cervical cancer. In no sense does Canada have
a cervical cancer “crisis,” and in no sense
will Gardasil “eradicate” Canada’s cervical
cancers.
A
group of McGill medical specialists headed up by epidemiologist
Abby Lippman will be publishing a summary of their numerous
concerns about the Gardasil vaccine later this month
in the August edition of the Canadian Medical Association
Journal. Lippman states emphatically that there is no
such crisis of cervical cancer in Canada but that the
flurry of recent announcements by politicians and the
aggressive marketing techniques of Merck have manufactured
an “epidemic of fear” in Canada.
Gardasil
shows POTENTIAL to prevent SOME cervical cancer. There
are more than 30 types of HPV which can cause cancer
and for those women—firstly, who receive Gardasil;
secondly, who receive Gardasil before being infected;
and thirdly, whose protection by Gardasil is still active
and effective [uncertainty prevails on this point]—there
is protection against 4 of the most common types which
together cause about 70 per cent of cervical cancers.
When all is factored in, some believe the vaccine MAY
help to prevent less than 17% of cervical cancers. Cancer
experts predict that cervical cancer will take the lives
of about 390 women this year in Canada.
The
vaccine is given by means of three injections over a
six-month period of time, and is very expensive, costing
about $400 per person. The Canadian Women’s Health
Network expresses doubt that the benefits of the vaccine
justify such a high price tag and suggests that the
money be used instead to improve the Pap smear process.
Research has strongly and consistently indicated that
if every woman were to receive regular Pap smears, cervical
cancer in Canada could be virtually eliminated. Oddly
enough, the Gardasil vaccine raises the specter that
women might be lulled into a false sense of security,
and overlook the acute need for Pap smears and routine
exams by their physicians. If such proved to be the
case Canada could conceivably see an increase in the
rate of cervical cancer.
Further
number-crunching raises more doubts—even a startling
picture. Reliable indications are that Gardasil’s
potency declines significantly after about four years
yet cancer data show that the average cervical cancer
patient is 47 years of age. If young school children
are vaccinated at 9-13 years of age, how many injections
or boosters during their lifetime might they need in
order to stay protected? The higher the number the better
for Merck’s bank account.
The
HPV vaccine "touches on very deep sexual, social,
ethical values," says Margaret Somerville, Faculty
of Medicine professor at McGill University. A good mix
of these is apparent in the hostile reaction to the
message that government will take care of the risks
of a disease that is spread ONLY by sexual promiscuity.
At the root of such a reaction is the simple but profound
truth, and moral standard, that a young man and young
woman getting married, both having no prior sexual intimacy
and contact, and both remaining faithful to each other
for life, have ZERO risk of contracting HPV. HPV is
spread only through the peculiarity of multiple sex
partners. Like HIV, it is for all practical purposes
a behavioural disease.
In
a society where many outrightly dismiss, are ignorant
of, or have abdicated their parental responsibilities
for the moral (and sex) education of their children,
this standard seems not only utopian but its very suggestion
is said to be offensive and intolerable. Nevertheless,
the Gardasil message is clear: “Your little girl,
as young as nine, will not remain abstinent but will
engage in, or is preparing to engage in, sexual activity.
She needs to be vaccinated.”
Some
have compared the Gardasil campaign to the push to promote
condoms, which, in creating a false sense of security
about “safe sex,” has resulted in overall
increased risk. In the strategy to control the spread
of STD’s, condoms have been a failure. “Condoms
aren’t enough to do the trick—let’s throw
in the Gardasil.”
Furthermore,
widespread immunization by government meddles with the
right of parents to choose the appropriate time to decide
when and how their children will be exposed to the topic
of sexuality. Against their better judgment and wishes
they are forced to engage in the discussion.
Finally,
some misconceptions need correcting.
The
federal Health Canada website states: “Anyone who
has had sex is at risk for HPV.” This is obviously
not true in the case of the young man and woman described
above whose lives and marriage are ruled by monogamous
standards. Does the Canadian government assume all its
citizens deal with multiple sex partners?
HPV
is not like polio or some other serious, preventable
disease treated with a vaccine. HPV is a disease contracted
through vaginal, oral or anal sexual intercourse—and
only by those means. Your daughter will not catch HPV
by sitting next to someone who has it.
Gardasil
offers no protection whatsoever against other serious
STDs, such as Chlamydia, herpes, gonorrhea, syphilis,
HIV, AIDS; nor is it effective against the other more
than 26 kinds of HPV.
Provincial
Health Minister Ross Wiseman said he believes the vaccination
program will do more good than harm. So is he saying
that, after spending nearly five million hard earned
health dollars to protect women from a cancer causing
STD that comes only through multiple partner sex, if
2,800 young girls are vaccinated and some MAY be saved
from cervical cancer twenty years or more hence but
one or more girls die or are incapacitated after being
vaccinated, that the program was a success? Perhaps
Merck-Frosst, as well as our politicians, haven’t
gone to such depths in their thinking. That possibility
is indeed a scary—and dangerous—one.
Eric
Alcock, President & NL Provincial Director
1-709-773-0700
Vote Life, Canada!
Website: www.votelifecanada.ca
Blogspot: http://votelifecanada.blogspot.com Updated
regularly!
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