Thursday, August 9, 2007

Attention: HPV Vaccine ("Gardasil")

From recent CHP press release:
Actually, Gardasil only protects against four of the 30 kinds of HPV; and there are many other reasons for concern about this raid on the public treasury by Big Pharma:

• The drug has not been tested on pre-adolescent girls;

• Giving young children a vaccine for a disease that is only spread by sexual promiscuity sends a bad message: “We expect you to be promiscuous, but your government will protect you against the consequences of irresponsible behaviour.”

• HPV is a disease spread by behaviour, so even if Gardasil eliminates the four kinds of HPV against which it may provide immunity, the other 26 kinds will become epidemic if behaviour is not changed—or if promiscuous behaviour is stimulated.

• No one knows what side-effects this vaccine will have on these girls in future years: might it render them sterile?

• A few years ago, the company promoting Gardasil (Merck-Frosst) marketed an inadequately-tested analgesic, Vioxx, and suffered about $1.2 billion in liability judgements; it looks suspiciously as though Canadian taxpayers were being made to rescue Big Pharma from their legal woes—and that young girls are to be used as foils to con the taxpayers.

• The point man for the lobbyists working for Merck-Frosst to promote mandatory vaccination of young children with Gardasil is a former policy advisor to Prime Minister Harper. That relationship is just too close for comfort.

• No one knows how long the effect of a vaccination will last. The HPV epidemic could rebound, worse than ever.

• The plan to vaccinate children against 4 out of 30 forms of HPV is not like vaccinating people against diseases like polio: an un-vaccinated person can still transmit polio to others by casual contact; but HPV is only spread by sexual promiscuity. Like HIV, it is primarily a behavioural disease. A false sense of security actually increases risk.

Germany, the UK and Austria have already swallowed Merck’s bitter pill; but in the USA, several states are resisting this campaign for mandatory vaccination of young girls with an inadequately-tested product. One is Massachusetts, where a citizens’ group called “Mass Resistance”—headed by a good friend of the CHP, Rev. Michael Carl—is organizing voters to stop the plan.
The Newfoundland and Labrador Right To Life Association also opposes the vaccination program:
If the government was really concerned with the teenage STD infection rates, they would introduce an abstinence education program. The province’s current sex-ed curriculum may contain an abstinence element, but it is given only a fleeting mention, if any. The Right to Life Association has heard many complaints from parents, students, and teachers, that abstinence is not given enough attention in the school system. Many of those involved in the school system have asked for a comprehensive abstinence-ed curriculum.
There are already proposals to make this vaccine mandatory. This shouldn't be allowed to happen. Please contact your MP (and your MLA, MNA or MPP—health care delivery is a matter of provincial jurisdiction) to express your concerns.

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