JE Vaccine Fiasco: 22 dead, 102 hospitalised in Gorakhpur, UP.

[Guest guest]

Dear Sirs, The long drawn out vaccination process seeking to "eradicate" six diseases in India needs an immediate review. Recently we have seen on NDTV English (reported on 25.07.06 afternoon and evening bulletins) how 22 children were killed in UP and 102 hospitalised (upto the point of the report) after the Japanese Encephalitis (JE) vaccine was administered. The same vaccine has caused 35 hospitalisations in West Bengal as reported in ETV Bangla. In the interview on NDTV, Dr Rathi, a Health Official of UP, conceded that vaccine adverse reactions were "unusually high" in India. One Dr Sayyed went on to say that vaccines are not properly tested before trying them on Indian children. They seemed very unhappy at the way the vaccination drives were being carried out. It seems the government is still going ahead with its plan to vaccinate children in other diistricts and states with the

same JE vaccine. Maybe only a massive catastrophe, and ably supported by the press with full coverage and due follow up, will force them to have a rethink. It was also pointed out that India has the capacity to manufacture vaccines. Then why is this capacity not being utilised? This is probably because an indigenous vaccine could create more problems for the govt if adverse reactions were reported. There would be no passing the buck. The government would have to concede that vaccines are dangerous per se and would be forced to compensate the victims and also rethink the entire vaccination schedule. Vaccine reactions are no joke. They leave the person immunodeficient for life. It is this sort of callousness, at every sphere, that we medical and vaccine victims are trying to point out and fight. We are proposing a shift to safer systems which have stood trial for many centuries and have not

caused such a scale of devastation that we see around us now. Many of the systems we are backing are not medicine oriented, for example naturopathy and accupressure. The governments back existing paradigms simply because they have invested a lot and would like to see a return on their investment. Thus the interest of the state and the interest of the people are totally at loggerheads. I guess this is the same problem in many other spheres also. We are seeing outdated paradigms ruling the roost and refusing to give way. In the interest of all, educated well meaning people should join the movement to make holistic health popular and effective and make modern medicine safer and less expensive. It is no use fighting in the internet about the efficacy of various systems. Let us educate the people about the theories behind the various systems, provide them with

viable and easily accessible options and let them choose. All this must be done without politics or favour or economic considerations coming into the picture. This will separate the chaff from the rest. And I wish to remind the doctors that their aim is to heal people and not to advocate any particular method of treatment. In accordance with the ethics of their profession they should have a base in all major systems of medicine and decide what to adopt depending on the situation and need of the patient. On the success of this approach rests the benefit of all. Yours,Jagannath Chatterjee. "Our ideal is not the spirituality that withdraws from life but the conquest of life by the power of the spirit." -

Aurobindo.

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