Ramsammy lashes out at critics of HPV Vaccine

Feb 13, 2012 News

Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy has lashed out at critics of the Human Papilloma Virus Vaccine (HPV) and debunked claims of it being unsafe for young women. The former health minister raised the issue while addressing health workers recently in Berbice.
“I see some stirrings and I have been hearing things that this vaccine will kill young girls and so on….you must know that this year, almost 500,000 young women will become afflicted by cervical cancer and most of them will die prematurely before they are 60 years old,” he noted.
“Today we have a tool in our hands to prevent almost 75 per cent of these women from getting cancer and therefore, prevent more than 200,000 premature deaths of women every year,” he noted.
The vaccine, he noted, has been proven to be safe “and millions of women in the United States of America, Canada and Western Europe have already taken this vaccine but in those countries, you also have those people who need to have their 15 minutes under the sun.”
He said that those persons, the critics, find all kinds of things to talk about but “we must be careful because in poorer countries, our children deserve to have their vaccines that rich people’s children are having abroad and there are rich people in this country who have taken their daughters to Miami, Toronto, New York and giving their daughters this vaccine. I say to you and join you to say, ‘What is so wrong with the daughters of poor people being protected from cervical cancer?’”
The US Federal Drug Administration, World Health Organization (WHO) and Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Ramsammy added, has certified the safety of the vaccine. “In Barbados, Trinidad, Jamaica, young girls are getting this vaccine. What is wrong with our girls getting the vaccine? It is safe!” Ramsammy argued.
He then dispelled arguments that there was not enough research done locally on the matter.
“…let me tell you something, this country is ahead of most developing countries in conducting the necessary research. Since 1997 we have been doing research and we have found that HPV is present in our country, HPV is prevalent in our country and we have found that HPV- Type 6, 11, 16 and 18 are the prevalent HPV in our country and those were the HPV Genotypes that the vaccine targets!”
Ramsammy said that encouragement must be given to the new Health Minister to ensure every young girl gets the vaccine.
Ramsammy praised the Ministry of Health’s strides to reduce the number of maternal deaths. “2,600 babies used to die every year in this country and now we are reducing that to approximately 200.”
“Our life expectancy was 59 and 60 (years) and today it is 71…and that is why I am proud of you (health workers).”

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Ramsammy lashes out at critics of HPV Vaccine

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