Our view of the HPV jab is based on facts – we are not scaremongering

ANDREW Doyle (Letters, August 30) criticises your for publishing a letter from Mothers Alliance Ireland (MAI) which, he says, tried to use “scare tactics against the HPV vaccine”.

Let me assure Mr Doyle that the opinions of MAI are based on facts, many of which have been confirmed by your front page report headlined ‘Cervical cancer jab experiment in public health’ (August 30).

It quotes from a report by Dr Diane Harper who has been a consultant to Merck, the manufacturers of the vaccine. She carried out safety and effectiveness studies to get approval for the vaccine. She is also a director of the cancer prevention research group at University of Missouri, USA.

Speaking about the situation in India, where the vaccine programme has been suspended following the deaths of four girls, Dr Harper mirrors the opinion of Mothers Alliance Ireland.

She says: “The most disquieting objection to the programme, voiced by over 70 civil society groups, public health organisations, medical professionals, human rights organisations, women’s groups and others was the lack of information provided to the public so that each participant could be afforded the opportunity for informed decision-making about their cervical cancer protection”. Instead of criticising the Irish Examiner, Mr Doyle should be applauding it for its efforts to ensure parents are fully informed of the risks attached to HPV vaccination. No parent should have to go thorugh what many around the world are experiencing, including the parents in Britain whose 14-year-old daughter dropped dead in the corridor of her school an hour after receiving the HPV vaccination.

Nora Bennis

Mothers Alliance Ireland

Revington Park

North Circular Road

Limerick