Several medical associations have written to prime minister Narendra Modi asking him to ignore “unsubstantiated, irresponsible claims”
The letter wars over India’s vaccine policy (read long term plan to eventually introduce HPV vaccine in the universal immunisation basket) have further intensified.
A clutch of medical associations have written to prime minister Narendra Modi urging him to not pay heed to “unsubstantiated and irresponsible claims” about vaccines.
“Prime minister Sir, recent unsubstantiated and irresponsible claims about vaccines question the very integrity and authority of our decision makers and the rigorous processes they follow, as well as the technical experts and committed government officials who implement our health programmes. Such claims have the potential to plant seeds of doubt in the minds of those who put their faith in the government’s flagship programme, Mission Indradhanush. Sir, we therefore urge you to now allow these baseless and unscientific objections, which are contrary to global and local scientific evidence and consensus, derail India’s vaccine policies and programmes,” reads the letter. Mission Indradhanush which was launched in December 2014 seeks to push India’s vaccination coverage to 90% and has so far covered 2.55 crore children.
The letter has been signed by, among others, Dr Jaideep Malhotra, president, Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India, former ICMR director general Dr N K Ganguly, Dr Navin Dang of Dr Dang Labs who is also a member of Medical Council of India, Dr C N Purandare, president, International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Dr N K Arora, executive director INCLEN Trust, Dr Virender S Chauhan, chairman, National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) and Dr Jaiprakash Muliyel, head, department of community health, Christian Medical College, Vellore.
The letter comes days after WHO DDG Dr Soumya Swaminathan told The Indian Express in an interview: “The voices against vaccines are based mostly on hype, not on facts. Some nationalistic bodies claim that the immunisation programme helps MNCs – it is just not true.”
In its April 15 letter, SJM had alleged that advocacy groups of dubious antecedents and an official in the ministry of health were “lobbying for the use of vaccines such as HPV vaccine. Obviously questions are raised about the influence of pharma giants on the National Immunisation Programme.”
Though neither Dr Swaminathan, who in her earlier avatar as DG of the Indian Council of Medical Research had been one of the pillars of the country’s vaccine policy, nor the doctors’ groups mentioned it, both responses came days after a Swadeshi Jagran Manch letter to the prime minister. The economic wing of the RSS wrote a long letter alleging vested interests at various levels were influencing India’s vaccine policy. In its April 15 letter, SJM had alleged that advocacy groups of dubious antecedents and an official in the ministry of health were “lobbying for the use of vaccines such as HPV vaccine. Obviously questions are raised about the influence of pharma giants on the National Immunisation Programme.” HPV is associated with more than 80 per cent cervical cancers — not all HPV infections go on to become cancerous. As one oncologist puts it, HPV is a necessary but not sufficient condition for cervical cancer. Data from the national cancer registry shows that in 2013, 92,731 cases of cervical cancer were reported in India, a figure that is projected to go up to 1,00,479 in 2020. The National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation recommended in January that HPV be included in the national immunisation programme subject to the verdict in an ongoing case in the Supreme Court. NTAGI is the apex technical body that considers available scientific evidence on vaccines and advises the government. This is not the first time SJM has raised questions of this nature. In a letter to the PM in November 2017, the RSS affiliate wrote: “Swadeshi Jagran Manch requests you to stop this move to introduce Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine in India and we recommend the strongest action against groups that pervert science, which brings ignominy to the scientific community in the country and sells the country to vested interests.”
 have further intensified. A clutch of medical associations have written to PM urging him to not pay heed to "unsubstantiated and irresponsible claims" about vaccines.){kind=link}