4-09-12 Ministry of Health introduces new cervical cancer vaccine Halima Athumani The Ugandan Ministry of Health has

introduced Gardasil vaccine to help in the treatment of cervical cancer in women. Gardasil vaccine shall supplement the already existing cervirax vaccine that government has been using. Christine Ondoa the health minister says all girls in primary four regardless of their age are going to be vaccinated, including all ten year olds who are not in school. The launch of the vaccine shall take place this Thursday in Oyam district. It follows a successful demonstration project carried out in Ibanda and Nakasongola districts. The vaccine was donated by Merck Sharp and Dohmes from the United States. The MSD representative Colleen McGuffin says they have donated 460,000 doses of the Gardasil vaccine. It shall be used on 140,000 for a period of two years. Ondoa says the advantage with Gardasil is that it prevents four human papillomaviruses compared to two by cervirax. The vaccine that costs 12,565 shillings also prevents genital warts which cervirax does not do. The first phase of Gardasil vaccine shall be carried out in 12 districts including Oyama, Bududa, Busia, Kamwenge, Katakwi, Isingiro, Mityana, Kayunga, Rukungiri, Nebbi, Ntungama and Lira. The vaccination programme together with the Ministry of health is supported by the WHO, UNICEF, Catholic medical mission board and the programme for appropriate technology in health. Dr Ondoa also said its going to be a compliment for the ongoing cervical cancer screening. Currently 7.32 million women of reproductive age, from 15 years and above are at the risk of developing cervical cancer in Uganda. According to the WHO 3577 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer in Uganda each year and about 2464 die from the disease annually. Research has also shown that 33.6 percent of the women harbors the HPV virus, unfortunately 80 percent of them, die within five years. Gardasil will be administered in three phases starting this month of September, October and lastly in April 2013.

Health experts argue that when a girl receives all the three vaccinations then they are safe for life. This is why the Ministry of health is targeting school going children so as to protect them before they become sexually active. The health minister adds that if the vaccination in the 12 districts is successful the ministry will roll out the programme to the rest of the country in from 2014 onwards. However this will be in condition that the Global Alliance for Vaccine and Immunisation (GAVI) has approved it and its recommended by the WHO. However, research carried out by URN reveals that results of a recent study commissioned by the vaccine safety organization SANE Vax provide compelling evidence that the Gardasil vaccine does, in fact, contain dangerous live strains of the HPV virus. The study examined the contents of thirteen virals of Gardasil from different countries around the world including the United States. It was found that 100% of the vaccines probed were contaminated with genetically modified live strains of the human papilloma virus capable of infecting human beings. These findings strongly suggest that the Gardasil vaccine has been transmitting the HPV virus to an untold number of young boys and girls all over the world and causing the very condition it was designed to prevent. Studies have linked genetically modified virus strains in vaccines to serious health disorders including auto immune disorders and malignant tumors. ###