Pulse of the Polio Program

[Guest guest]

The same crime is committed in other developing nations http://www.whale.to/a/genocide_opv.html Ingrid Pulse of the polio programme Thursday October 18 2007 09:12 IST Farah Baria http://newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IE220071017225054 & Title=Second+Article & rLink=0 Not long ago, a gentleman turned up at our door with a large box. “Madam,”he said gravely, “according to our records your children have not availed ofthe government’s Pulse Polio Programme yesterday. Please ensure that this isdone now.” Two days later, my daughter complained of a pain in the leg. “Could bevaccine-associated paralytic polio,” warned my doctor. Eventually thatturned out to be a false alarm. But it left me with a vague sense of dread. The disquiet returned when a fouryear- old Mumbai girl died of the virusrecently. Alarmingly, the child’s records show she had received severaldoses of the vaccine this year. More alarmingly, the Pulse Polio Programmeprescribes one dose every month, way in excess of the internationallyprescribed standard of seven doses over a lifetime. Government officials believe this unprecedented blitzkrieg will check theresurgence of our Ninja bug — 676 fresh cases in 2006, another 223 thisyear — and plug “coverage lapses” in the implementation of its aggressive Rs2,000 crore Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI). The strategy: propaganda anddoor-todoor implementation. At one level, this meticulous planning is impressive in a country wherepublic health initiatives die early of official neglect. Meticulous it maybe but it is not exactly democratic. Even if I am a layperson, as a parent Ihave some questions to ask. Is this battery of “supplementary” vaccinationssafe for our children? Does the government have the authority to prescribeit in the absence of any long-term studies? And what about our right to beinformed about the possible side-effects? Incidentally, question three remains a moot point. Reason: medicalliterature maintains that the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) occasionallybackfires because it contains a live virus which can mutate and becomeneuro-virulent, causing Vaccine Associated Paralytic Polio, also known asAcute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP). Despite the “negligible” risk, in 1997, therewere 3,047 cases of AFP; in 2005, 26,000. Also, to be effective, the OPVmust be continuously stored in temperatures below minus two degreescentigrade. In a land of power cuts, this is virtually impossible. Interestingly, many western countries have reverted to an older, morestable, Injectable Polio Vaccine (IPV) which uses a dead virus that does notrequire cold storage, and carries no known risk. Recently, an article inLancet warned that the OPV is giving rise to a new strain called VaccineDerived Polio Virus, and recommended the use of IPV. This is controversial, especially since the OPV seems tailor-made forIndia. It is about six times cheaper than IPV, easier to administer, and hasa “herd immunisation” effect, protecting both child and community. But the government needs to weigh the merits and demerits of both throughdemocratic debate, not high-handed policy. Surely as parents we have theright to make an informed choice on matters that concern our children’shealth. And we would like to know why we are using the OPV for our childrenafter the West spurned it? And how we square these questions with the WHO declaring last year thatIndia is “actively exporting polio” to other countries. It even threatenedto issue a travel advisory requiring Indians travelling overseas to provideproof of vaccination. Subsequently, the Union health minister called polio a “national shame”and vowed to atone. Again, while it is understandable to maintain that suchadvisories are avoidable, the government must act when warnings are based ondemonstrable facts. Disease prevention must remain essentially, indeed wholly, a medicalexercise, informed by the best medical evidence and choices. Which is tosay, the Polio Eradication Initiative cannot and must not become an exercisein diplomacy. Let’s aim for some perspective. Polio is a dreadful bug which must beeradicated. But we should ask ourselves if we are going about it the rightway — and for the right reasons. We may even perhaps need to pause,revaluate, and rethink --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~You received this message because you are d to the Google Groups "MedicalConspiracies" group.To post to this group, send email to: MedicalConspiracies (AT) googl (DOT) comTo to this group, send email to: MedicalConspiracies- (AT) googl (DOT) comFor more options, visit this group at: http://groups.google.comMedicalConspiracies «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«If Paranormal Research and Medical Conspiracies are of interest check out: Paranormal_Research = Scientific Data & Health Conspiracies To visit Paranormal_Research on the web, go to: Paranormal_Research/ To to this group, send an email to: Paranormal_Research- -~----~------~----~------~--~---