Is the PMO promoting a 'killer vaccine'?
To draw the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi towards the spate of children’s deaths occurring after administration of Pentavalent vaccination, a group of eminent doctors and academicians have shot a letter to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) requesting immediate intervention and total withdrawal of the vaccine in India.
While presenting a grim picture about the sad state of affair related to the safety of pentavalent vaccination the letter states, “That babies die repeatedly as reaction from a vaccine is unacceptable. Already as per RTI reply there have been 76 deaths in India till August 2014 from Pentavalent adverse events following immunization (AEFI).”
The letter further says “… since PMO has itself been involved in pronouncements of vaccine initiatives in the past few months. It is our responsibility to place these scientific facts before the PMO so that it is aware of the facts and so that urgent and appropriate action may be initiated by you.”
Dr Jacob Puliyel, head of paediatrics at St Stephen’s Hospital, Delhi and part of the group that sent the letter, told PG Times, “The objective behind the letter is to apprise the Prime Minister about the true picture which he is likely not aware of. The international organizations are pushing their agenda through the PM’s office. After taking over the charge as Prime Minister, he emphasized the use of pentavalent vaccine in his speech and at some international forums as well. In spite of all the disquiet in India, PM has offered the killer vaccine to the rest of SAARC countries during the recent South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit in Kathmandu. It is certain that he is not aware what this vaccine is doing to children here in India.”
He said, “There are lots of international pressure not to withdraw the vaccine in India and other nations where its safety and use have been questioned. Whenever deaths occur in India or Sri Lanka, the WHO teams visit and after some assessment they restart the vaccination giving process. The deaths due to the vaccine are happening again and again and it is the time we start going into depths. Innocent children dying is not correct.”
“Apart from flaws in the reporting mechanism there are flaws in assessing the exact reason of death in children after giving the vaccine. Doctors are themselves unaware of the side effects of the vaccine. They are labelling the reason behind deaths as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), which is completely different from deaths occurring due to pentavalent vaccine. This way it is very easy to convince the aggrieved parents that the child did not die due to the use of this particular vaccine. Cases do not get reported and the vaccine is continued to be used and propagated,” said Dr Puliyel.
Expressing concern about deaths of young children following the administration of Pentavalent vaccine, the letter, dated November 25, 2014, says, “Every few days one more child dies after receiving the Pentavalent vaccine… We hope we will receive an action taken report in the next 2 weeks.”
The letter is signed by Dr B M Hegde, former vice chancellor of Manipal University, Manipal; Dr Vikas Bajpai of the Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi; Dr Amitav Banerjee, professor, community medicine, Dr D Y Patil Medical College, Pune; Dr J P Dadhich, consultant paediatrician, New Delhi; Dr Arun Gupta, paediatrician and member, Prime Minister’s Council on India’s Nutrition Challenges; Dr S K Mittal, former professor of paediatrics, Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC), Delhi; Dr Ritu Priya, professor, Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, JNU, New Delhi; Dr Jacob Puliyel, head of paediatrics at St Stephen’s Hospital, Delhi; Dr S Srinivasan, former director and professor of paediatrics, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry; and Dr K P Kushwaha, principal and dean, BRD Medical College, Gorakhpur.
