New Delhi: Government on Thursday rejected the opposition charge that Indian girls are being used as guinea pigs for anti-cervical cancer vaccines.
Replying to a calling attention notice given by Brinda Karat (CPI-M) in the Rajya Sabha, Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said the use of HPV (human
papillomavirus) vaccines imported by Merck and CERVARIX (manufactured by GSK) have been stopped in the country.
This had been done following apprehension that four deaths caused in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat had any connection with the vaccine, he said.
"Although prima facie there does not appear to be a connection between the deaths and the vaccination, but, for our satisfaction and to allay the apprehensions, the states have been advised not to carry out any further vaccinations till further orders," Azad said.
Rejecting the charges that guidelines have been violated, he said the vaccines were being used in over 100 countries.
The US and the UK have even included them in their national immunisation programme.
However, in the fourth phase of the clinical trial (post-marketing), the vaccine would be tested on a large sample of 24,000 girls which would be higher than the sample of 21,000
people in US, he said.
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.
Following the four deaths, the Centre has constituted the committee of experts to find the efficacy and safety of the drug.
However, Karat initiating the debate doubted the composition of the committee and and demanded that eminent experts on medicine should be part of the panel.
In India, more than 1.32 lakh women suffer from the disease and 76,000 died in 2008.
Given the gravity of the disease, could India afford not to allow use of a vaccine just because it has been dismissed in certain quarters, Azad asked.
He, however, assured the members that Indian girls would not be allowed to be used as guinea pigs for clinical trials and the vaccine would be used only after clearance of the
panel.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, April 22, 2010, 15:01