Hyderabad: Allaying fears over the vaccine,
Andhra Pradesh Health Minister D Nagender Thursday said that the
human pappiloma virus (HPV) vaccine being administered for
prevention of cervical cancer in Khammam district was safe.
Addressing media persons, Nagender said the deaths of
three girls reported in the district were coincidental and not
associated with the HPV vaccine.
"There were reports that the deaths of these girls were
related to the vaccine. It is not true. The deaths are not
related to the vaccine," he said. He also circulated a report
from the Khammam District Medical and Health Officer (DMHO)
which shows that the deaths were due to other reasons.
The vaccine, manufactured in Australia, had the approval
of concerned authorities in the U.S and the Drug Controller
General of India, Nagender said.
"The Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS)
has summarized available data on the safety of HPV vaccines
and determined that the vaccines are safe and the benefits of
HPV vaccination far outweigh the risks," he said.
The vaccines were given as per a project being
implemented by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR),
governments of Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh in collaboration
with the international non-profit organization PATH, he said.
The newspaper also published what it described was a
partial list of vaccine victims aged between 2-17.
Chen blamed abuse of power and corruption by local health
authorities but the MOH said it had launched an investigation
into the case, which was closed in November 2008.
It found that the sampled vaccines met national standards.
The four who died after being administered tainted
vaccines were 9-month-old Wang Xiao`er and 8-month-old Liu
Ziyang from Luliang city; and 3-year-old Wang Shichao and Liu
Yi from Yangquan city, the report said.
Children from 74 families were crippled or developed
serious diseases such as encephalitis after being vaccinated
against hepatitis B, rabies, and type-B encephalitis, it said.
Wang Mingliang, the father of Wang Xiao`er, told the
newspaper that his only son died in August 2008, about seven
months after being vaccinated against hepatitis B.
The boy had fever and convulsions a week after the
vaccination but hospitals in the province and Beijing could
not find the cause, he said.
Chen said he believed it was tainted vaccine that caused
the child`s death.
"Vaccines which should have been kept refrigerated
according to regulations were found to be piled up in
non-air-conditioned buildings," Chen told the paper.
"Spoiled vaccines should have been destroyed according to
regulations on vaccine safety but they were still used," he
said.
Law experts said if that proved true, it would be
tantamount to a criminal case.
PTI
