When the HSE declares that 'Informed Consent' should be based on 'information that comes from verifiable, credible and unbiased sources‘, one would assume that the information it was providing to the public for the upcoming HPV Mass Vaccination campaign should be more than reliable.
The publicly funded Health Service
Executive (HSE) is responsible for the provision of public healthcare in Ireland
and is the responsibility of the Minister for Health. Unfortunately the HSE's
efforts at informing the public on the necessity for this latest Mass
Vaccination exercise belong more to the realm of hype, spin and
plain disinformation, than anything the above PR rhetoric would suggest.
We looked at the HSE's most recent press release of 16 Sept 2010 "Cervical
Cancer Vaccination campaign underway for 57,000 girls across Ireland" -
whose HPV vaccination related 'information' an unquestioning Irish media
reprinted the following day. Below are selected paragraphs from the HSE
statement which we will try to verify for accuracy and bias.
‘In Ireland,
cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in the country among females
aged 15 to 44. HPV or Human Papillomavirus, is proven to cause cervical cancer.
It is a common virus - about 80% of people will have a HPV infection during
their lifetime.’
‘Gardasil is a safe and fully tested vaccine which protects against the main
cancer-causing strains of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and will eventually
save around 60 lives in Ireland every year. Around 250 women are diagnosed
with cervical cancer here annually, with around 80 deaths. The HPV vaccine will
prevent at least 70% of these cases.’
‘Informed consent is a critical element of any vaccination
campaign, and all parents should be informed about the vaccine their daughters
will receive – information that comes from verifiable, credible and unbiased
sources‘.
‘All parents of girls who are
getting the vaccine are given a detailed information booklet and consent form
from the HSE.'
Let's look at the above information (taking each of the
statistics separately).
‘In Ireland, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in the country among females aged 15 to 44.' [Not Credible]
We checked the Irish National Cancer Registry site (figures averaged for 2005-7)
The two most common cancers (expressed
as % of all cancers for that age group) among females in Ireland aged 15 to 44
are:
1. Breast, Malignant - 30.5%
2. Non-Melanoma Skin, Malignant - 20%
Only 11% of all cancers in this age group relate to Cervical Cancer.
Note that cervical cancer is only the 9th most common cancer among females in Ireland for all ages.
It is only 12th on the list for deaths
per cancer type for females (latest available mortality figure breakdown from
2006).
'HPV or Human Papillomavirus, is proven to cause
cervical cancer.' [Biased]
We checked the the US government National Institutes of Health website which carries a report published by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) - “Cervical Cancer Prevention, (Health Professional Version)”. which contradicts the above HSE statement:
“The finding of HPV viral DNA integrated in most cellular genomes of cervical carcinomas supports epidemiologic data linking this agent to cervical cancer however, direct causation has not been demonstrated.”
So in essence, there is a link between
HPV and cervical cancer (via the presence of HPV viral DNA in the cancer cells),
but that does'nt prove the HPV caused the cancer to form (i.e
just because firemen are always present at every fire doesn't mean they started
it).
‘Gardasil is a safe and fully tested vaccine..' [Not
Credible]
We checked the 'Summary of product characteristics' document provided by the vaccine manufacturer. This shows that full clinical trial studies were only carried out on women over 16 years of age.
No full trials were performed for girls under 16 - the target group for the Irish mass vaccination. For them the vaccine effectiveness could only be 'inferred': "On the basis of this immunogenicity bridging, the efficacy of Gardasil in 9- to 15-year-old girls is inferred".
The professor who headed up some of the Gardasil Clinical Trials (funded by Merck) admits to unknown side effects this group may experience "Giving it to 11-year-olds is a great big public health experiment". 11 & 12 year old girls have different immune response, different hormonal levels and different bodyweight which means side effects may be more severe compared to fully grown women taking the same dose. Note also that even the clinical trials that were performed on the over-16 age group should be considered to be seriously flawed (for example they did not even use a real placaebo), as this analysis by an independent researcher demonstrates.
The Head of the Regulatory Agency
that approved Gardasil in the US (the CDC) is
now president of Merck Vaccines suggesting possible collusion over
fast-tracking the approval process
There have also been over 75 deaths (of mostly teenage girls) and
thousands of disabling conditions linked to Gardasil injections as reported to
the US FDA Post Marketing Adverse Reactions Tracking System
(VAERS).
Gardasil..will eventually save
around 60 lives in Ireland every year [Not
Credible]
Two main reasons why this is misleading:
A) The protection (from some strains of HPV) which a 12 year old girl receives as a result of the HPV mass vaccination campaign is not expected to last beyond 10 years.
The professor who headed up some of the Gardasil Clinical Trials (funded by Merck) admits to this in a 2007 article:
We know that Gardasil® is an alum-based vaccine; we assume its efficacy will last for about 10 years because (1) HPV 18 antibody titers drop after 2 years, with a small decrease in efficacy for HPV 18-specific disease at 5 years, and (2) we know that most alum-based vaccines need boosters within 10 years.
As the average age at which cervical
cancer is diagnosed in Ireland is
at age 44 , this vaccination program alone can therefore not be expected to
have any impact on the rates of cervical cancer.
B) A free national cervical screening program commenced in Ireland in 2008 and
is estimated to prevent 95% of possible
cancer cases for up to
80% of the female
population . The HSE recommends that everyone who is vaccinated
should also attend for regular
cervical screening (due to limitations in the vaccine effectiveness). So of
the 80 deaths, 60 will be prevented by screening (not vaccination).
If this mass vaccination of 12 year olds in 2010 were to prevent any deaths it would not be until after 2054 (as average age of mortality from cervical cancer in Ireland is 56). By 2054 however, current mortality rates of cervical cancer will have fallen by 80% due to screening (as has been the experience in other countries Eg Finland and US).
‘All parents of girls who are getting the vaccine are given a detailed information booklet and consent form from the HSE.' [Credible but...]
Part 3 of the consent form ("Complete this part if you want to have this girl vaccinated") requires parents to answer the following question:
The parent must answer 'Yes' or 'No' - in order to do so an intradermal skin test is required.
Because of this requirement, 99% of parents should be unable to complete the consent form, yet the HSE is predicting an 80% vaccination uptake rate. The HSE must rely on parents to conspire together with them to advance the pretence that all the girls have had an intradermal skin test. (As the Government appointed Ombudsman might say: "It’s as if the HSE works in a parallel universe...".)
Notice in the allergy question above only 4 vaccine constituents are listed - the most toxic compound in the vaccine, Sodium Borate (also known as Boric acid), is omitted from the list.
The US gov National Institute of Health website has declared: "Boric acid is a dangerous poison".
Despite this omission, we give the HSE Consent
Form a "Credible" score as it effectively dictates that no child should be
vaccinated without first having an
intradermal skin test to detect possible allergic
reactions to vaccine components. This is an important precaution due to the
high number of reported deaths
and injuries associated with Gardasil and because usually there is
usually no effective treatment
for girls that suffer serious adverse reactions to Gardasil.
As the above analysis shows, the HSE has continued to live down to it's usual
low standards of credibility and openness. In a July 2010 Irish Examiner article
titled "Ombudsman
attacks HSE’s ‘rotten culture of secrecy’" the Government
appointed 'watchdog' Emily O’Reilly accused HSE chiefs of wasting public
resources, excessive secrecy, and frustrating her attempts to access vital
records.
The article continued: 'For a body that is there to represent the public's interests, Ms O'Reilly said it sometimes sought to protect its own interests. This, she said, was "very wrong".'
In light of the information presented above, one wonders whose interests are
being served by this latest Mass Vaccination program so vigorously marketed by
the HSE?
Contact
justin@comelook.org
