Free HVP Vaccine Drive and Opposition to It

 

Free HVP Vaccine Drive and Opposition to It

The Indian Government started a free HPV vaccination campaign across the country in February this year. This initiative targets girls aged 14, those who have turned 14 but are not yet 15, to help prevent cervical cancer. The focus is on a single-dose schedule the vaccine. The campaign will last for three months at government centers, primarily in schools, with the goal of reaching 1.15 crore girls through the U-WIN digital platform. 

Activists and human rights advocates view this as unethical, claiming that village and tribal girls are being used as 'guinea pigs' due to mandatory participation enforced by government machinery.

In other news, there have been lawsuits related to the Gardasil HPV vaccine, with hundreds of individuals alleging they experienced serious injuries after receiving the vaccine. The plaintiffs argue that the safety profile of the vaccine was misrepresented and that there was a failure to adequately inform about the associated risks.

Haryana based activist Dr. Devender Balhara has expressed dire safety concerns regarding the HPV vaccine in terms of its implementation and raised questions about whether proper, independent, or placebo-controlled trials have been conducted for the HPV vaccine. He puts forth that slyly the HPV vaccine being put under universal immunisation programme.