Anti-cervical cancer vaccines - Indian girls as guinea pigs? Deaths related?

Anti-cervical cancer vaccines are a rage now in India - with hefty advertising budgets, effective medical executives convincing doctors and doctors themselves turning advocates! The vaccine is usually administered to girls as they enter their teenage years. And it is estimated that as much as 70 per cent of reported cervical cancers are believed to be caused by the human papilloma virus. The vaccine claims to prevent infection with certain species of HPV.

After coming under fire in Rajya Sabha on April 22, 2010, the government put on hold clinical trials of anti-cervical cancer vaccine HPV in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, even while stating that death of six vaccine-administered tribal girls in the two states could not be attributed to the medicine. The health ministry on April 22, forcefully denied the allegation levelled by the opposition that Indian girls are being used as guinea pigs for anti-cervical cancer vaccines!

Four of the 14,091 girls given the vaccine in Andhra Pradesh had died, while two of the 10,686 vaccinated girls died in Gujarat, Health Minister Mr Azad said but added prima facie no connection between these deaths and vaccination had been established.

Defending the large-scale clinical trial under which 24,000 girls in the age group of 10-14 years were permitted to be given human papilloma virus(HPV) vaccine in the two states, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said it had become imperative as 76,000 of the 1,32,000 girls suffering from the cervical cancer had died in the country in 2006 alone, fearing the number of sufferers would go up by a lakh every year. Secondly, the permission for phase IV clinical trial of the HPV vaccine was given only after phase III trials had been conducted in more than 100 countries, he added.But at the same time the Minister said Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat governments had been advised not to carry out further vaccination until a committee set up by the Union Government to probe alleged ethical violations in the trials submitted its report.

Marxist leader Brinda Karat, who raised the issue of death of six tribal girls during the clinical trials through a calling attention motion in the House today, demanded that the government induct experts in the panel set up by it to probe ethical violation, if any, in the allowing the clinical trials by a US-based non-governmental organisation(NGO) -- PATH. She strongly objected to the government allowing the phase IV trial based on a study carried out on just 110 children by foreign pharma companies not registered in India.

The two HPV vaccines (GARDASIL) were allowed for clinical trial in the country in accordance with the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, and these are available in the market. However, a US-based NGO, PATH, was granted permission to carry out an operational research on these vaccinations in Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh and Vadodara in Gujarat.


Theoretical excitation and Medical Conspiracies
Two common instances even you would have experienced: It is a common observation that most of the commerce graduates are inspired of theoretical business gains and setup business establishments soon after studies, but get to reality with their hands burned, from real experiences different from theory! Another case is, most of my doctor(english medicine) friends, advocate/subscribe to anti-pregnancy tablets in the initial years of marriage, especially important for doctors to complete their studies etc and later we had seen that they are bound to have problems with normal pregnancy later on! 


You also know, how pharma companies made money with WHO(World Health Organisation) over rating the criticality level for the disease! Now its upto you to relate the story!

How to verify and know more about prescription medicines online or in a medical store / pharmacy?

You want to know about the medicines prescribed by your doctor, its side effects, recommended dosage, contra indications, sp, int, adr etc. Also, how many times you were shocked and made frantic calls to see that the doctors prescription in hand, doesnot specify exact gms /unit of medicine to be bought? This is serious, if you cannot get a clarification from the doctor who prescribed accessible at all!


Here is a helpful tip and steps: (to be used wisely, in case professional help is not available for you) 

1. Ask the pharmacist to give you the medical directory book(it is called CIMS book, as I have seen it in Indian drug stores).
2. See prescribed drug brand name under the yellow pages(namely, Albhabetical Brand Index) of CIMS book and get the page number listed there against the drug name.
3. Goto this pagenumber in the CIMS book and see the drug name listed under its generic (chemical / pharmaceutical) name.
4. You can read about this drug then to see the usage, recommendations, side effects, dosage, ci, sp, int, adr etc. 
5. Check together with the pharmacist or a doctor, if possible.Even otherwise, you could use this as you use the dictionary and get very useful information.

Here is the online Website with free registration: cimsasia.com . 


Incase, if you already have the tablet / medicine in hand, see the chemical name and search in internet for the same. But registering for free in this website and checking would give you more precise information.


Sharing this information, as I learned it from a doctor at a crucial time when we needed help.Hope it will be useful for you as well. Do share in your comments and experiences.

Rhuematoid Arthritis : Decrease Joint Pain and make exercise possible

Inactivity decreases joint motion and flexibility. Inactivity also can lead to weak muscles and deformed joints. Regular exercise helps reverse joint stiffness, builds muscle, and boosts overall fitness. With regular exercise, you can feel stronger with less fatigue. But first, see your doctor before starting an exercise program.

Regular exercise boosts fitness and helps reverse joint stiffness with Rheumatoid Arthritis(RA). Do see the slide show here: Slideshow-rheumatoid-arthritis-exercises