Panama HPV Vaccination Program Stirs Debate Over Public Health Education
Main Category: Cervical Cancer / HPV VaccineAlso Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 25 Mar 2009 - 6:00 PDT
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PRI's "The World" on Friday examined how Panama's campaign to vaccinate all girls against human papillomavirus at age 10 is raising new concerns among some public health experts over how much information the government should disclose about such programs. The vaccine, which requires a three-dose regimen, protects against certain sexually transmitted forms of HPV that cause many cervical cancers, according to "The World." Panama is the first country to make the vaccine mandatory and offer it at no cost, spending $5 million annually on the program. "The World" reports that parents have broadly welcomed the vaccination program, unlike in the U.S., where there has been some objection to vaccinating young girls on the grounds that it could encourage sexual activity.
Jose Cedeno of Planned Parenthood Panama said that the reason there has been no objection among parents of young girls is that government officials have not told parents that the vaccine protects against a sexually transmitted virus. According to "The World," the message that the inoculation is "just a 'cancer vaccine' is central to how the government promotes the program on TV and radio." Cedeno said that because there is no national sex education program in Panama, the government is missing out on an opportunity to educate the public. He noted that the vaccine does not protect against all cancer-causing strains of HPV, adding that girls need to learn how to protect themselves. However, some members of the public health community support Panama's approach. Newton Osbourne, a prominent gynecologist in Panama, said, "I think it's a good thing because if they tie it to sexual activity, it's going to bring up all kinds of controversy that I don't think is going to be all that relevant to the main issue -- we want to prevent women from getting cancer."
Rosario Turner, Panama's minister of health, said that cervical cancer is the second leading cause of death among women in the country and that women's health is a top priority for the government. According to "The World," many women in Panama do not routinely get Pap smears, making the vaccine the most effective way to protect women against HPV. Turner said that in the first few months of the program, 19,000 girls were vaccinated, including many girls from small villages. Turner acknowledged that the health department has downplayed the relationship between HPV and sexual activity. She said, "I saw the outcry over the HPV vaccine abroad and tried to avoid it by focusing only on cancer." Parents in Panama "can be sensitive about discussing sexuality," "The World" reports. For example, when the government attempted to introduce comprehensive sex education in schools last fall, "a huge debate ultimately crushed the effort," according to "The World" (Weise, "The World," PRI, 3/20).
Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.
© 2009 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.
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Mandatory Vaccine Unwise, Unnecessary
posted by Rima E. Laibow MD on 26 Mar 2009 at 1:12 amAs a physician, I am deeply distressed to learn that the dangerous, poorly tested and unnecessary HPV vaccine was made mandatory in Panama. Here's why:
1. HPV vaccine is, according to the US FDA's own documents, generated prior to the vaccine's approval, effective on 4 strains of HPV, all of which are self-limited infections which have NO RELATIONSHIP WHATSOEVER TO CANCER OF ANY KIND so the vaccine is not useful for any sort of prevention.
2. HPV vaccine increases the incidence, according to the US FDA, of cervical cancer 44.7% in girls and women who already have HPV.
3. HPV vaccine has been associated with literally thousands of serious adverse events in girls and women who have received even 1 shot in the 3 shot series including death, seizures, crippling degenerative diseases like "juvenile ALS", previously virtually unknown, muscle aches, persistent weakness and neurological disorders. These adverse reactions are both immediate, delayed and chronic.
4. HPV vaccines contain Polysorbate 80 ("Tween 80"), a well known cause of sterility and potentially lethal anaphylactic reactions (Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, Volume 95, Number 6, December 2005 , pp. 593-599(7).
Tween 80 is also associated with an increase in cervical cancer, rash, hives, itching, difficulty breathing, tightness in the chest, swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue, blurred vision or vision changes, chest pain, confusion, fainting, fast or irregular heartbeat, flu-like symptoms (fever, chills, sore throat), one-sided weakness, pale skin color, seizures, redness, tenderness, or swelling of the calf, severe diarrhea, dizziness, headache, stomach pain, or vomiting, severe or persistent tiredness or weakness, slurred speech, sudden pain or numbness of an arm or leg, sudden shortness of breath, sudden trouble walking or loss of balance, swelling of the arms or legs, vision or speech problems, weight gain.
Other less severe adverse effects include constipation, cough, diarrhea, dizziness, headache, muscle, joint, back, or stomach pain, nausea or vomiting, pain, swelling, irritation, redness, or bruising at the injection site, unusual tiredness or weakness. Severe genital warts have resulted in children following injection with the HPV vaccine.
5. Cervical cancer is well detected by Pap smears, and inexpensive, painless and safe detection method. The epidemiology of cervical cancer does not warrant an expensive, dangerous and ill-tested vaccine. According to Cancer.org, "Only some women with pre-cancerous changes of the cervix will develop cancer. This process usually takes several years but sometimes can happen in less than a year. For most women, pre-cancerous cells will remain unchanged and go away without any treatment. But if these pre-cancers are treated, almost all true cancers can be prevented." Between 1955 and 1992, cervical cancer rates dropped over 70% due to pap screenings. Most cases occur in middle-aged women, and it is rare in women under age 20. The 5-year survival rate for cervical cancer is 72%.
6. HPV vaccine contains sodium borate, which, according to the National Library of Medicine, causes convulsions, collapse and seizures (twitching of facial muscles, arms, hands, legs and feet). These symptoms are among the adverse effects seen within 6 months of HPV vaccine administration.
7. HPV vaccine contains amorphous aluminum hydroxyphosphate sulfate80. The amount of injected aluminum is 18,000 times higher than what the FDA previously considered safe in injectable products. Aluminum is linked with neurological damage, including Alzheimer's Disease.
8. HPV vaccine contains L-Histidine, an essential amino acid. Injecting it makes it likely that the immune system will be "trained" to attack it by producing antibodies to it, thus resulting in low histadine levels. This could help to explain many of the post HPV vaccine adverse reactions: nausea, vomiting and irritable bowel (histadine is required to regulate digestive functions), signs suggestive of heavy metal poisoning such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, headache, sweating (histadine is essential for the metabolism and excretion of heavy metals in the body), joint pain (low histadine levels are associated with rhumatoid arthritis), spontaneous abortions and fetal malformations (histadine passes through the placental barrier).
9.Polysorbate 80, a surfactant, and L-Histadine are a toxic mixture causing increased thrombin production leading to blood clots which can have lethal consequences.
10. Histadine is necessary for histamine production. Antibodies to histadine would result in low histamine levels. Low histamine levels are associated with auto immune encephalopathy, which is associated with the symptoms commonly seen in MS. Many of the adverse reactions to the HPV vaccine are MS-like reactions with progressive, degenerative neurological deterioration.
11. Seizure disorders are frequent adverse events with HPV vaccine. Low histamine is a well established precipitating factor for the development of seizures.
12. Life-long protection from the 3 shot series is far from certain. If HPV vaccines do, in fact, protect against cervical cancer, and that is far from certain, they are said to provide protection for only 6 years, for only 2-4 types of HPV virus out of at least 30 types and to have dose characteristics which are, at this point in time, totally unknown.
Given that the push for mandatory HPV vaccination is based on deceptive and incomplete information provided to parents/guardians, and that the vaccine itself is far from safe or adequately tested, this is a wrong headed, dangerous policy which I devoutly hope will be halted immediately.
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