Schools denying girls the cervical cancer jab on religious grounds

[DowagersHump]

This is absolutely appalling. Even worse, they are not telling GPs that they are choosing not to offer vaccination :(

Grauniad article

Shows what you know. Cases of polio paralysis in India down from 50-thousand about a decade ago to zero (allegedly). Cases of non-polio paralysis up from around zero to 49 thousand last year. Coincidence much.

I haven't seen the figures which you quote from a doubtless reliable source and not some antivaxxer propaganda website

But surely you agree with me, no?

"I look forward to the day when Polio is wiped off the face of the earth by extending vaccination to those few isolated corners where antivaxxers have managed to keep it going.

In the same way that Smallpox has been eradicated from the wild thanks to the strenuous efforts of healthcare teams providing vaccinations to all corners of the earth. No doubt there are antivaxxers who were not in favour of the eradication of smallpox."

I suppose if you're a 100% committed antivaxxer then you won't accept other sources such as the World Health Organisation.

Where do you stand on Vaccination and Smallpox?

Yes, the Indian government's health website. They're not all that anti-vaccination, you might not be surprised to hear.

You don't know anything about polio or its incidence or its effects.

Actually I'm ambivalent about smallpox vaccination. Some statistics show that the biggest outbreaks were after vaccination campaigns.

PJ you've had nothing to say about the safety trials for Cervarix, the views of Diane Harper or the voices of women damaged by HPV vaccine.

Why is that?

It is because it's easier to shout SMALLPOX! therefore you are an antivaxxer and are wrong about everything?

People always go to smallpox when they're struggling with a response.

I'm wondering why you're ambivalent about the eradication of smallpox. Tell me about the advantages you consider would have been gained by not eradicating it.

Well I'm wondering why you won't respond on the issue of HPV vaccine when it was brought up really quite some time ago and has nothing at all to do with smallpox. In your own time.

I wonder what will help you respond to the problems with Cervarix safety trials, the concerns of Dr Diane Harper, the problems of women damaged by HPV vaccine?

How about for argument's sake I say, yes Pigletjohn, smallpox was wiped out by vaccination. There we are. That's that settled.

Now, does that help us decide that there were no problems with the Cervarix safety trials, that HPV expert and principal vaccine investigator Dr Diane Harper has no concerns over its mass rollout, and that these damaged women are lying about their post-vacccine health?

I don't think it does, but at least now you can respond without fretting about smallpox.

I haven't seen the figures which you vaguely refer to.

But surely you agree with me, no?

"I look forward to the day when Polio is wiped off the face of the earth by extending vaccination to those few isolated corners where antivaxxers have managed to keep it going.

In the same way that Smallpox has been eradicated from the wild thanks to the strenuous efforts of healthcare teams providing vaccinations to all corners of the earth. No doubt there are antivaxxers who were not in favour of the eradication of smallpox."

Pj oh absolutely, you're absolutely right about poilio, smallpox - whatever you say.

Now then, any response to those concerns about HPV vaccination in schools?

The issues were brought up some time ago and rather than have them addressed people have tried to talk about fGM, wife-beating, polio, smallpox..it looks like changing the subject in order to avoid difficult questions.

So let's say you're right about all those things so that they don't trouble you any more.

Now - what aout the problems with Cervarix safety studies, the views of senior vaccine researcher Diane Harper, and the voices of women damaged by the vaccine?

I really cannot imagine what will stop you this time from responding.

I'm not interested in discussions on the pros and cons of vaccination. For what it's worth, I experience partial hearing loss as the result of a bad reaction to a vaccination when I was 16, but that hasn't made me "agin" immunisation.

What does concern me, however, is the issue raised in the original post - that state-funded schools are able to "opt out" of not just immunisation programmes, but also other programmes designed to benefit the health, safety and well-being of young people. If a school is completely privately funded, as much as I think they would be denying young people important information and access to services, they couldn't be compelled to do anything. However, if they are tax funded in any way, I believe they should not be allowed to opt out.

There are large high schools in areas near where my organisation works that refuse to engage with any sexual health services, that will not allow their students to be involved in teen pregnancy or teen parenting projects and have rejected offers from voluntary agencies to talk with their young people about issues including relationship abuse, sexual abuse, homophobia or sexual exploitation. All of these are massive issues for young people in these localities, but schools insist they "know best" how to deal with them, through moral and faith teaching alone.

One of my colleagues attended one of these schools and said she'd felt like a lamb to the slaughter when she went on to university because she had been so sheltered and was so ignorant of even basic information about sex, sexuality and risks.

I don't actually know if these two schools have opted out of the HPV vaccine or not, but I wouldn't be surprised, given their previous stance on any issues related to sex or sexuality.