Re: Oh whoppee! The Gardasil crap has landed in South Africa

[Guest guest]

Despicable, especially in light of the fact that the FDA knew before Gardasil was approved that the 4 types of HPV it is supposedly effective against do not cause cervical cancer and that woman exposed to the vaccine have a four fold increase in cervical cancer, to say nothing of the women and girls that it kills. How sad that the poor cannot afford it. Let's be generous and provide it to them, shall we?

Perhaps a blue ribbon in place of the equally disingenuous pink one?I find the machinations more and more atrocious. Are they more desperate or are we simply so much more sophisticated that we can no longer tolerate their insanity and inanity?

Yours in health and freedom,Dr. RimaOn Wed, Apr 16, 2008 at 3:05 PM, Ingrid Blank <enb1@...> wrote:

Just look at the typical scientifically illiterate spin, particularly the

idiotic headline!

Ingrid

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=336948 & area=/insight/monitor/

Killer cure too pricey for poor

Nosimilo Ndlovu | Johannesburg, South Africa

Cervical cancer still kills thousands of women in South Africa, mostly poor

women in their 40s and 50s, many of whom are the breadwinners in their

families.

Doctor Trudy , a gynaecologist who works at the Johannesburg General

Hospital and who also runs her own private practice, says she sees up to 850

women a year with cervical cancer. Most of them have spent their lives

taking care of others and left their own health to last.

Because of financial constraints, most women seek medical advice or

treatment in the late stages of cancer.

"Women come very late to seek help -- often they might have a slight bleed

or smelly discharge but they pay little notice. When they eventually notice

the bleeding getting worse -- or when the smell gets worse -- they come to

seek help. Unfortunately by then they are at stage three of the disease and

need radiotherapy," she says.

Cervical cancer is somewhat of a "Cinderella" disease compared with its more

glamorous cousin, breast cancer, which enjoys a high-profile, pink ribbon

campaign endorsed by A-list celebrities.

says that even though cervical cancer is more common, women are less

aware of it and it is not well covered by the media.

Of course, it is easier for women to examine their own breasts than their

cervixes: "Women often do not realise how severe their condition is as it

occurs where they cannot see it and they easily and often ignore the

problem."

Last week pharmaceutical company Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) launched a

cervical cancer vaccine in South Africa, the quadrivalent human

papillomavirus recombinant (HPV) vaccine.

The vaccine will help protect against diseases caused by the HPV types 6,

11, 16 and 18, namely cervical cancer, abnormal and precancerous cervical

lesions, genital warts, vaginal and vulvar cancer and HPV infection.

The vaccine -- called Gardisil -- is available in South Africa at R770 a

shot. Patients require three shots over a six-month period.

"As a schedule two drug it is available at pharmacies and can be

administered by the pharmacist. You do not need a prescription for it," said

Doctor Sibongile Kubheka of MSD.

At R2 310 for a full course of treatment, the vaccine will be unaffordable

for the women most severely affected by the diseases caused by HPV. The

vaccine is available only in the private sector, but Kubheka says the focus

in future would be on the public health sector.

She says that while MSD has not engaged with government to introduce the

vaccine in hospitals and clinics, the company is open to such engagement.

Professor Lynette Denny of the University of Cape Town says that "because

HPV-associated disease is so prevalent in HIV-positive women, it would be

particularly useful to vaccinate women who might become HIV positive in the

future, so that they are protected".

She pointed out, however, that the relationship between HPV vaccination and

HIV is still to be studied.

It is not clear if South Africa's major medical aid companies will pay for

the vaccine.

The department of health failed to respond to questions about whether the

vaccine will be available in the public health sector.

Worldwide it is estimated that there are up to 40-million cases of HPV

infection. More than 650 women die from cervical cancer around the world

each day.

No virus found in this outgoing message.

Checked by AVG.

Version: 7.5.519 / Virus Database: 269.22.13/1377 - Release Date: 04/14/2008

09:26

[Guest guest]

Despicable, especially in light of the fact that the FDA knew before Gardasil was approved that the 4 types of HPV it is supposedly effective against do not cause cervical cancer and that woman exposed to the vaccine have a four fold increase in cervical cancer, to say nothing of the women and girls that it kills. How sad that the poor cannot afford it. Let's be generous and provide it to them, shall we?

Perhaps a blue ribbon in place of the equally disingenuous pink one?I find the machinations more and more atrocious. Are they more desperate or are we simply so much more sophisticated that we can no longer tolerate their insanity and inanity?

Yours in health and freedom,Dr. RimaOn Wed, Apr 16, 2008 at 3:05 PM, Ingrid Blank <enb1@...> wrote:

Just look at the typical scientifically illiterate spin, particularly the

idiotic headline!

Ingrid

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=336948 & area=/insight/monitor/

Killer cure too pricey for poor

Nosimilo Ndlovu | Johannesburg, South Africa

Cervical cancer still kills thousands of women in South Africa, mostly poor

women in their 40s and 50s, many of whom are the breadwinners in their

families.

Doctor Trudy , a gynaecologist who works at the Johannesburg General

Hospital and who also runs her own private practice, says she sees up to 850

women a year with cervical cancer. Most of them have spent their lives

taking care of others and left their own health to last.

Because of financial constraints, most women seek medical advice or

treatment in the late stages of cancer.

"Women come very late to seek help -- often they might have a slight bleed

or smelly discharge but they pay little notice. When they eventually notice

the bleeding getting worse -- or when the smell gets worse -- they come to

seek help. Unfortunately by then they are at stage three of the disease and

need radiotherapy," she says.

Cervical cancer is somewhat of a "Cinderella" disease compared with its more

glamorous cousin, breast cancer, which enjoys a high-profile, pink ribbon

campaign endorsed by A-list celebrities.

says that even though cervical cancer is more common, women are less

aware of it and it is not well covered by the media.

Of course, it is easier for women to examine their own breasts than their

cervixes: "Women often do not realise how severe their condition is as it

occurs where they cannot see it and they easily and often ignore the

problem."

Last week pharmaceutical company Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) launched a

cervical cancer vaccine in South Africa, the quadrivalent human

papillomavirus recombinant (HPV) vaccine.

The vaccine will help protect against diseases caused by the HPV types 6,

11, 16 and 18, namely cervical cancer, abnormal and precancerous cervical

lesions, genital warts, vaginal and vulvar cancer and HPV infection.

The vaccine -- called Gardisil -- is available in South Africa at R770 a

shot. Patients require three shots over a six-month period.

"As a schedule two drug it is available at pharmacies and can be

administered by the pharmacist. You do not need a prescription for it," said

Doctor Sibongile Kubheka of MSD.

At R2 310 for a full course of treatment, the vaccine will be unaffordable

for the women most severely affected by the diseases caused by HPV. The

vaccine is available only in the private sector, but Kubheka says the focus

in future would be on the public health sector.

She says that while MSD has not engaged with government to introduce the

vaccine in hospitals and clinics, the company is open to such engagement.

Professor Lynette Denny of the University of Cape Town says that "because

HPV-associated disease is so prevalent in HIV-positive women, it would be

particularly useful to vaccinate women who might become HIV positive in the

future, so that they are protected".

She pointed out, however, that the relationship between HPV vaccination and

HIV is still to be studied.

It is not clear if South Africa's major medical aid companies will pay for

the vaccine.

The department of health failed to respond to questions about whether the

vaccine will be available in the public health sector.

Worldwide it is estimated that there are up to 40-million cases of HPV

infection. More than 650 women die from cervical cancer around the world

each day.

No virus found in this outgoing message.

Checked by AVG.

Version: 7.5.519 / Virus Database: 269.22.13/1377 - Release Date: 04/14/2008

09:26