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Two Canadian Provinces to Offer HPV Vaccination to Grade-School Girls

Judicial Watch refers to "catalog of horrors," of numerous serious side effects to the vaccine in US

By Elizabeth O'Brien

OTTAWA, August 7, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Two Canadian provinces are introducing vaccination for human papilloma virus (HPV) into grade schools this fall despite many uncertainties about the drug's side effects and possible long-term complications.

Nova Scotia became the first province to accept the HPV vaccination last month. Since then the governments of Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador have announced their commitment to providing the new drug that is heralded as a protection from cervical cancer caused by the sexually transmitted virus.
 
Newfoundland and Labrador announced yesterday that the province is introducing a $4.6 million program to vaccinate approximately 2,800 grade six girls beginning this September. "This vaccine is considered one of the first and most successful steps young women can take to prevent cervical cancer and we want them to have the best advantage to avoid this terrible disease," said Newfoundland Health Minister Ross Wiseman.

"Over the past few months, we have been working in cooperation with our regional health authorities to develop a sustainable program for the delivery of this vaccine and I am pleased to say that we are proceeding as planned for the upcoming school year."

Likewise, the Ontario government decided to offer the vaccination to all grade eight girls this coming fall. Unlike the states of Virginia and Texas where the vaccination is mandatory, the Merck drug company vaccination program will at least for now be offered "free" and "voluntary" within Ontario schools, reports CanWest News. At the cost of about $39 million per year, approximately 84,000 young women will have the choice to be vaccinated.

The provincial plan to roll ahead with the vaccination comes in spite of warnings from medical researchers. Abby Lippman, a professor of epidemiology at McGill University, and her colleagues, conducted a study of the vaccine and published their results in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. According to CTV News, the report stated that the vaccination is "premature and could have unintended negative consequences."

The study questioned how long the vaccinations would be effective and stated that the poorly followed-up tests lacked sufficient data. It also warned that of the thousands of women who were tested with the new vaccine, only a mere 1,200 were sampled from the main target group of girls aged 9 to 15. In a recipe for biased results, the tests were either partially or completely funded by the company that manufactures Gardasil.

In addition, HPV infections have been decreasing in Canada as a result of the increasing availability of PAP tests, the study notes. These test for a broader range of cervical problems than the 4 protected by the vaccination. In light of these facts, the study cautioned against the vaccine, concluding, "Individual girls and women, as well as policy-makers, can make truly informed decisions about vaccinations only when they have all the evidence, and today, there are more questions than answers."

A total of 1,637 adverse reactions to the drug were reported to the Food and Drug Administration as of May 11 this year. In what Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton called a "catalog of horrors," the 371 serious side effects reported in this list included spontaneous abortion and fetal abnormities in pregnant women, paralysis, Bells Palsy, Guillain-Barre Syndrome and seizures.

Fitton stated, "Any state or local government now beset by Merck's lobbying campaigns to mandate this HPV vaccine for young girls ought to take a look at these adverse health reports.  It looks as if an unproven vaccine with dangerous side effects is being pushed as a miracle drug."

Commenting on the vaccine making new headway in the provinces, National Organizer of Campaign Life Coalition Mary Ellen Douglas told LifeSiteNews.com, "I think they can't usurp the rights of the parents in these matters." In addition, "there is no definite proof that this vaccine is not dangerous," she continued. "It hasn't been proven, so I think parents should have some concern."

Douglas stated, "If they spent more time teaching chastity and morality, they might not have to resort to this type of action. But they don't."

Referring to the fact that HPV is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections in Canada, Douglas continued, "They target the results, but they don't target the action that leads to the results. If they would just spend more time teaching morality and encouraging morality rather than doing something after the fact." She added, "There are all kinds of terrible things that naturally result from a lifestyle that should be discouraged rather than band aids with possibly dangerous vaccines."

Read previous LifeSiteNews coverage:

Canada's Conservative Government Distributes $300 Million to Provinces for Controversial HPV Vaccination
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/mar/07032106.html

New Mexico Close to Mandating HPV Vaccine for 6th Grade Girls Despite Lingering Questions about Safety
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/mar/07031408.html

Drug Conglomerate funds campaign to impose Mandatory HPV Vaccine on Young Girls
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/feb/07020204.html

Merck Drug Company Drops Campaign for Mandatory HPV Vaccine
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/feb/07022109.html

Texas Gov. Issues Executive Order Approving Mandatory HPV Vaccines for Girls 9-11
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/feb/07020505.html

HPV leading STI: Latest CDC Findings Report that Condoms Not Protective
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/feb/04020305.html

Nova Scotia Offers Free Human Papilloma Virus Vaccine to Grade 7 Schoolgirls
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jun/07062111.html

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