HPV vaccine - A boon or bane?
The most anticipated campaign initiated by the Indian division of the Seattle-based PATH, a healthcare NGO, failed miserably due to severe ethical concerns.
A RAy of hope was inculcated into minds of many Indian women as the clinical trials of HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccine, Gardsil commenced. But sadly the most anticipated campaign initiated by the Indian division of the Seattle-based PATH, a healthcare NGO, failed miserably due to severe ethical concerns. Of late the Centre has recommended the State Governments to postpone the vaccination programme. The HPV vaccination campaign began last year as a manifestation project in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. One of the objectives was to immunise 14,000 girls in Khammam locality, a large fraction of them hailed from poor, tribal background.
The samples enrolled for the ‘demonstration project’ aged between 10 to 14 years, belonged to the weakest sections of society, accepted by the Indian Council of Medical Research and the relevant State governments. Mostly children from the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and the Muslim communities, who are economically underprivileged, were used for experimenting. The girls and their family members were told that the vaccine will offer life-long protection, is devoid of serious side-effects and would not have an effect on upcoming fertility of the young girls.
Brinda Karat, CPI (M) Polit Bureau member, has very rightly pointed out that according to the law no drugs can be experimented on children before they are experimented on adults, and the deprived sections of society do not account for such experimentations.
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