[Desperate to get rid of this poison before the sell by date, they must be smarting from the millions of unused swine flu jabs.]
Teenage girls are being rewarded with shopping vouchers for having the
cervical cancer jab.
Girls aged 16 to 18 are being given £45 of vouchers if they complete an
inoculation course against the HPV virus, the sexually transmitted infection
that causes 70 per cent of cervical tumours.
A national campaign to vaccinate girls aged 12 to 18 has been criticised over
fears it may encourage promiscuity and raise pregnancy rates, and uptake has
been low among girls aged 16 to 18.
Now, the £22,500 pilot scheme gives young women Love2shop vouchers if they have
three injections. No parental consent is needed.
Bosses at NHS Birmingham East and North, which is carrying out the pilot, said
it has ‘real benefits for health’. The project could be rolled out across the
country. But campaigners claim the scheme amounts to bribery.
Norman Wells, director of Family And Youth Concern, said the project was ‘a
serious misuse of taxpayers’ money’.
One mother, who did not want to be named, said she was ‘appalled’ when her
daughter, 17, was offered the ‘unethical’ vouchers.