Family & Life

Vaccine Expert Challenges Minister Harney on HPV Vaccine for Children : 8th Feb 10

Ireland will have to work hard to ensure that girls being offered the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine get all three doses if the country wants to guarantee maximum protection against the strains of the virus that are causing most cases of cervical cancer. So says one of the co-inventors of the vaccine, Prof Ian Frazer from the University of Queensland, Brisbane.

He explained that in Australia, where HPV vaccinations began in 2007, data from some states shows there has been about an 80 per cent uptake of all three doses among schoolgirls, but that among those aged 18 to 26, uptake of all three was just 40 per cent after three years.

“So the lesson is”, he contended, “you really have to work hard to get people to get the second and third dose . . . it will be the challenge everywhere, as it is with all vaccinations, to get people to come back and get the extra shots”. Three doses over a six-month period are recommended to ensure maximum protection, Prof Frazer said, and the goal would be to have at least 90 per cent uptake of all three doses among those being vaccinated. Girls who get only two doses might be protected, but it was not clear how long this would last.

He stressed the importance of a major public education campaign before vaccinating began to ensure maximum uptake. Minister for Health Mary Harney announced recently that officials would offer the HPV vaccine to first-year students in secondary schools in Ireland before the summer break. Prof Frazer said he believed the HPV vaccine would also reduce the incidence of oral cancers, including cancer of the tonsils, which was growing among young people who practice oral sex.

But last October, Dr Diane Harper, the leading international developer of the HPV vaccines, gave a sales pitch for Gardasil. Far from reassuring her audience that it was safe and efficacious, she revealed that: (1): 70 per cent of HPV infections resolve themselves without treatment in one year. After two years, this climbs to 90 per cent. Only half of the remaining 10 per cent of infections coincide with the development of cervical cancer. (2). The incidence of cervical cancer in the USA is so low that “if we get the vaccine and continue PAP screening, we will not lower the rate of cervical cancer in the US”. (3). “There have been no efficacy trials in girls under 15 years”.

In an interview with ABC News, Dr Harper admitted that “The rate of serious adverse events (for the vaccine) is greater than the incidence rate of cervical cancer.”

In the light of this, pro-life commentator Pat Buckley wonders why Minister Harney decided to introduce the vaccine: “The questions that must be asked are, why are the Minister and her Department proceeding with this initiative when the risks associated with the vaccine are so serious and are already in the public domain?

And, why did the cost of the vaccine drop so significantly in such a short time? Is this reduction due to the adverse publicity, based on both the record of adverse reactions to the vaccine and the negative publicity created by Dr Harper’s frank admissions? The other questions that must be asked are, does the Minister and her Department believe there is an acceptable level of risk, and, if so, what is that level? There is one certain method to avoid HPV—it is called abstinence”. The Irish Times. January 20. Pat Buckley/ELN. January 18.

Send this news story to a friend

Family & Life

Vaccine Expert Challenges Minister Harney on HPV Vaccine for Children : 8th Feb 10

Recent Topics