While Health Ministers Fiddle, Australians Are Harmed
Two months after initiating a campaign to vaccinate school girls against the Human Papillomavirus, the Japanese Government has suspended the active promotion of both Gardasil and Cervarix vaccines. Japanese health authorities have found these shots to be associated with rates of serious reactions which are more than twice that of other vaccines introduced at the same time.
Gardasil and Cervarix are currently administered to Australian women, girls and more recently, boys – to purportedly prevent cervical and other cancers thought to be associated with the Human Papillomavirus (HPV).
The Japanese experience mimics that of Australia where, after the introduction of the Gardasil vaccine, Australia experienced an 85% increase in the rate of reported reactions – a situation noted by the Commonwealth Department of Health in their Annual Report (CDI Vol 32 No 4 2008). In contrast to Japan however, whose government has acted quickly and responsibly to protect the health of its citizens, Australian health authorities have not taken any action to ensure the safety of its young people in regards to these vaccines.
Why is it that Japan will suspend promotion of a vaccination which has been shown to be harmful while Australia will ignore this evidence and push ahead with its attempts to force, coerce, threaten and penalise those who would like the freedom to choose what is best for their children? When will our health ministers realise that they are there to safeguard the health of Australians – not the health of our vaccination programme?
The AVN would like to call on the government to investigate how the Gardasil and Cervarix vaccines were approved by the TGA without the basic tests necessary to confirm or refute the contents of the shot, their safety profiles or any evidence that HPV vaccination would reduce the risk of cervical or other cancers in humans.
In addition, we would like the Australian government to demonstrate that it takes its duty of care seriously by following the example of Japan and immediately suspending the use of both Gardasil and Cervarix until the necessary safety and effectiveness studies are performed.
Japanese References:
Cervix vaccine issues trigger health notice
Japan not to promote cervical cancer vaccination
Other nations suspend HPV vaccines:
India Suspends Gardasil Program After Four Deaths and Complications in 120 Girls
Spain suspends batch of Gardasil following illness
Experts question HPV vaccination:
Experts cast doubt on claim for ‘wonder’ cancer jabs
Call to review cancer vaccine after Germany demands more medical proof
HPV Vaccine Questions Cannot Be Answered Without Further Research