By: Wendi Lewis
07 September 2010
SM Mohammed Idris, president of the Consumers Association of Penang, recently wrote an opinion piece for the Malaysia Kini website, asking that the government reconsider its decision to vaccinate all 13-year-old girls in the country with Gardasil or Cervarix. According to the column, the country’s Ministry of Health (MOH) will spend RM 150 million annually for the vaccinations, which will affect about 300,000 girls. Idris warns the vaccine is “unnecessary, unscientific and unsafe.”
Gardasil, manufactured by Merck & Co., and Cervarix, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, are promoted for the prevention of the human papillomavirus ( HPV), a sexually transmitted virus linked to the development of cervical cancer. However, the vaccines only treat four of the more than 40 types of HPV, and experts say studies show that the human body naturally eliminates more than 90 percent of HPV infections, making the vaccine irrelevant and redundant. Medical professionals also point out that pre-cancerous lesions can be safely detected with regular annual Pap smears, eliminating the need for the vaccine.
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