West Coast school rejects vaccine

Last updated 13:50 11/03/2010

Relevant offers

Hokitika's Westland High School has refused to allow anti-cancer vaccine Gardasil to be administered on its premises, a move health bosses say is worrying.

Last year, the school's board of trustees was criticised by the Ministry of Health for publishing an article in the school newsletter on the supposed pitfalls of the Gardasil human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, which aims to protect girls from the age of 12 against cervical cancer.

However, the school still allowed the vaccine to be administered.

But this year the school will not and refuses to say why.

West Coast District Health Board HPV project co-ordinator Lynda Driver said she understood the issue had been ``hotly contested'' among the board members.

However, its final decision had been to wipe its hands of the immunisation.

She said it was worrying that the move had not been discussed more within the school community, and hoped it would not affect the programme, which would now be run independently over the rest of the month by the district health board.

``We want the programme to go ahead, so our main concern is getting these girls vaccinated in a safe environment, and that's what we intend to go ahead and do,'' Ms Driver said.

Last year, just before the vaccination programme was set to begin, the school published an article entitled ``What your DHB didn't tell you about HPV'' in the newsletter, claiming that young women who got the vaccine were ``guinea pigs''.

Other allegations included that the vaccine was made from genetically modified baker's yeast.

Board of trustees chairwoman Jane Neale said at the time it was a board decision to inform parents of both sides of the vaccine, and stood by the decision.

That was despite criticism from the Ministry of Health that the school advice was misleading and trying to discredit an immunisation campaign that offered considerable benefits to New Zealand women and girls by preventing the infection - spread through sexual activity and the known cause of 70 percent of cervical cancer and 90 percent of genital warts.

Mrs Neale said the media was not the place to talk about the school's decision but that the board had decided it would be ``more appropriate'' to have the vaccine administered elsewhere.

It was happy to pass on information about the new DHB vaccination clinics, she said.

Principal Tony Guilliland declined to comment.

The school's decision comes only days after Wellington woman Rhonda Renata publicly blamed the Gardasil vaccine for the death of her 18-year-old daughter last year.

Ad Feedback

Jasmine died in September, six months after she received the last of the three injections of the vaccine.

Ms Renata said ``right from the first shot'' Jasmine complained of ailments including headaches, weak limbs, pins and needles, abdominal and chest pains, and a racing heartbeat.

She is now waiting for answers from the coroner.

Meanwhile, Timaru mother Julie Smith has started a website, www.offtheradar.co.nz, out of concern about the vaccine as she researched it.

``The site was born out of the frustration of a parent who wished to make an informed decision about Gardasil for their daughter, and the difficulty they incurred in not being told the complete story about the vaccine by the Ministry of Health and medical establishment,'' Mrs Smith said.

``The Ministry of Health is reporting the vaccine is safe, but they are using the drug companies' trial data. I am just a mum who started looking into it... I think people need to be given the full facts.''

HAVE YOUR SAY: Comment on this story below.

- NZPA

The Press Homepage

Sponsored links

Share this page

Email Facebook MySpace Digg StumbleUpon Delicious Reddit Linkedin Twitter

9 comments
Post a comment

Expand All

Oldest First

dynes #9 07:38 pm Mar 12 2010

I have personally treated hundreds of women with cervical cancer. In spite of the best medical science can offer, 40% die in spite of treatment. Over 150 women get cervical cancer every year in NZ. Up to 85% of woman destined to get cervical cancer in the future will be prevented from doing so by the HPV vaccine. It is a position of ignorance and misology to mount a campaign against the vaccine. Wake up!

Scott #8 03:36 pm Mar 12 2010

Lee #4

regardless of google, anyone with common sense should realise that ANY vaccine is not welcome by the body. How our body's meant to get stronger if our immune system cant learn to fight for itself.

It is un-natural to be given a Vaccine, I personally will NEVER be vaccinated for anythin.

Daisy #7 02:12 pm Mar 12 2010

No ghost stories: PRNewswire via COMTEX/ ----Called the "Little Women," six women who have spent the past three years listening, documenting and researching parental concerns about Gardasil have been invited to formally present their information to the FDA on March 12. FDA participants include the Office of Communication, Outreach and Development/Center of Biologics (CBER), Office of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, and Office of Vaccines Research and Review.

In the states over 17,500 adverse reactions and 61 deaths have been reported to VAERS (estimated 1 to 10% of the population reporting). The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) has posted 272 VAERS reports of abnormal pap tests post-vaccination. Reports of deaths and injuries are now coming in from the United States, New Zealand, Australia, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain and India.

West Coast should be congratulated for standing up and erring on the side of caution and putting the good health of their young girls first. This HPV programme is a multi-billion dollar marketing hype machine based on fear mongering. There are alot of very real concerns about this vaccine not just here in NZ but in every country it is being used. Buyer beware to those of you who decide to experiment with your daughters and this vaccine.

“Journal reports teenager nearly blinded following vaccination against HPV virus” http://www.fleshandstone.net/healthandsciencenews/1780.html

dmt #6 11:33 am Mar 12 2010

Well done Coasters. This drug programme is based on the wrong premise. Be vaccinated and be sexually active without fear of cervical cancer!!! What about self control, personal dignity and committment to a healthy lifestyle. This is playing with symptoms and comes from 9 years of an immoral left wing leadership.

aly #5 11:18 am Mar 12 2010

GOOD JOB WESTLAND HIGH!!! Vaccination is the business of parents, children and GPS .. it has no place in the school system .. Vaccination is by CHOICE in NZ .. and Pharmacutical companies and their huge advertising campaigns.. are bullsh*t! Good one .. nice to see a school stand up ..

Lee #4 10:26 am Mar 12 2010

Merv +

Googling "risks of vaccinations" etc and then calling it research is at best dubious, as when you type something into a search engine you will get what you are looking for. If you are looking for vaccination ghost stories, then that is what you will find.

Ron #3 08:18 am Mar 12 2010

The government has invested many tax dollars in this scheme and it cannot afford to lose face if schools start refusing uptake. The issue is sensitive and thay are unable to accept that they may have it wrong morally and medically. It's all about the money and a fact that the government cannot admit they stuffed up. Good on you Coasters, they will try to discredit you, don't let them!

Merv+ #2 08:47 pm Mar 11 2010

My congratulations to the board of Westland High School. Anyone who bothers to thoroughly investigate vaccination will soon discover that this procedure is at best dubious, and at worst fatal.

The sole purpose of vaccination is to make money for the pharmaceutical industry. Any possible benefit to the recipient is a minor and unanticipated outcome.

It is long past time that the Medical/Pharmaceutical industry was replaced with a HEALTH service.

AaronC #1 04:31 pm Mar 11 2010

Good stuff Coasters, even if you give it a few years to see how it unfolds.

Ad Feedback

Post comment

Name:	Required
Email:	Required. Will not be published.

Registration is not required to post a comment but if you , you will not have to enter your details each time you comment. Registered members also have access to extra features. Create an account now.

Maximum of 1750 characters (about 300 words)

I have read and accepted the terms and conditions
These comments are moderated. Your comment, if approved, may not appear immediately. Please direct any queries about comment moderation to the Opinion Editor at blogs@stuff.co.nz

News Headlines

RSS