Social media slams Sudha Murthy push for cervical cancer vaccine; yet WHO recommends it

Speaking during a discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address on July 3, the noted author expressed her concerns about women’s health and the need for vaccination against cervical cancer.

Beneficial for our girls: Sudha Murthy

"There is a vaccination which is given to girls, between the age of nine to 14, known as a cervical vaccination. If the girls take that, it (cancer) can be avoided ... we should promote vaccination for the benefit of our girls because prevention is better than cure," Murthy said.

Pointing out that the government has handled a very "big vaccination drive during Covid" it may not be very difficult to provide cervical vaccination to girls in the age group of 9-14 years, Murthy stressed. Further, she added that cervical vaccination has been developed in the West and it is being used for the last 20 years.

"It worked very well. It is not expensive. Today, it is ₹1,400 for people like me who are in the field. If the government intervenes and negotiates...you can bring it to ₹700-800. We have such a large population. It will be beneficial for our girls in future," she said.

Story of HPV vaccine

Murthy's push for the HPV vaccine quickly drew a lot of flak on social media. Madhu Kishwar, academic and professor in the Indian Council of Social Science Research, said that she was "outraged" to see "Murthy peddling the HPV vaccine for girls". Terming it another "Ravan in the guise of Sadhu", Kishwar urged the Opposition to take up this issue.

The story of the HPV vaccine in India, which was in the spotlight earlier this year for influencer Poonam Pandey's drama around it, (in which she faked her death to promote cervical cancer), is about a complete lack of accountability of individuals and agencies in power, say experts.

Sunaina Yadav, in an Opinion piece in The Federal pointed out that "from government regulatory bodies to Big Pharma, unethical media agencies to publicity-hungry celebrities – it is difficult to dismiss the existence of a nexus that has led to the exploitation of vulnerable and desperate Indian women carrying the risk of a deadly disease".

Controversial HPV trials

This sharp indictment of the HPV vaccine stems from a controversial HPV vaccine trials that was held in India in the late 2000s by healthcare charity called Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) funded by the US-based Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The project came in for a lot of criticism due to the major disparities in execution, lack of patient consent, inclusion of vulnerable and tribal population groups in the study cohort and safety concerns following the deaths of seven girls after vaccination. The trials were using the HPV vaccines, Gardasil and Cervarix, manufactured by Merck. A PIL alleging human rights violations was filed before the Supreme Court in 2012 against PATH, Merck, GSK and the Indian regulatory bodies.

Indian govt pushes for HPV vaccine

Even as there is no clarity on the status of the court case against this PATH trials, years later, in February 2024, MSD Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd, the Indian subsidiary of Merck & promoter of Gardasil in India, seems to have revived its efforts to capture the massive Indian market.

In order to gain maximum traction, the PR campaign around Gardasil was timed closely with the Union finance minister and the Union Health Ministry’s announcements on the need to push for the HPV vaccine for 14-year-old adolescent girls.

This is what Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said while presenting the Union Budget 2024-25 in the Lok Sabha: "Indian girls in the age group of 9-14 years will be encouraged by the government to get vaccinated to prevent cervical cancer." 

Social media users attack Murthy

Even as video of Murthy's speech gained traction on social media, one user calling Murthy completely "ignorant" said that there are no scientific studies that prove the HPV Vaccine prevents cervical cancer.

"Does she know that thousands of Indian girls got lifelong side effects and many even died during the HPV Vaccine trials in 2009-10 by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation?" asked the user.

Another said, just wanted to remind Murthy about the "2010 Khammam District" case when innocent girl kids were killed by illegal HPV vaccine testing. The user went on to urge her not to turn schools into pharma agencies! 

"We send our kids to schools to study. Mam, Will you take personal responsibility and face prison time even if one girl has adverse effect or if even one girl is not able to conceive in future who took the vaccine? Pl answer question this frankly before influencing for vaccines. Need justice first the innocent kids who died in that village. Who got punished for this? What is the status of that case? Let that conclude before we speak a word on vaccines again. Think about it."

Another lashed out at her saying that her "daddies in British crown corporations are pushing a Oxford/Rothschilds patented vaccine that will spike infertility via HPV vaxx!" 

Cervical cancer cases in India

Cervical cancer develops in the cervix of women, the lower narrow part of the uterus that connects it to the vagina. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), it is the fourth most common type of cancer in women. The positive part is that this type of cancer is one of the most successfully treatable in case of early detection and if effectively managed.

According to some recent estimates, every year almost 80,000 women develop cervical cancer and 35,000 die due to it in India.

"India reports 1.27 lakh cases of cervical cancer and some 80,000 deaths every year,” Dr Abhishek Shankar, a radio-oncologist at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi, had told The Federal in an article on a Lancet commentary on how taboos and lack of awareness are key factors behind rising cervical cancer cases.

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