Health Ministry awaits report from British govt

Star: BENTONG: The public should not jump into conclusions over the death of a girl in Britain after she was vaccinated against cervical cancer.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said Malaysian authorities were awaiting feedback from the British government and other parties, including the pharmaceutical company which produced the vaccine.
“We want to look at the report first to find out the cause of the girl’s death.
“We cannot say that the girl’s death was caused by the vaccination process,” he said, adding that the ministry would carry out its planned vaccination programmed against cervical cancer through strict and controlled measures.
Liow said the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination has been carried out in many countries and proven to be very effective in preventing cervical cancer.
“The vaccine is safe and, according to our knowledge, only a very small percentage of one million people who undergo vaccination suffer minute side effects,” he said, after launching The Star SPM Workshop Series 2009 here yesterday.
The British girl reportedly fell ill after receiving the vaccine at her school in Coventry.
Health authorities there said no link could be made between the death and the vaccine until a post-mortem was conducted.
The ministry recently announced that the Government would offer the vaccination to girls aged 12 to 13 to prevent cervical cancer, the second most common cancer among women in Malaysia.
In Putrajaya, disease control division director Datuk Dr Hasan Abdul Rahman said the ministry’s decision to introduce the vaccination to girls in this age group was because they produced better immune response compared than older girls, and assumed to be free of the HPV infection.
“Nevertheless, the vaccination will be administered only with written consent from the parents,” he said yesterday.
On influenza A(H1N1), Liow said no new deaths were reported yesterday, adding that fatalities from the virus remained at 77.
He said 18 people were still being treated at the intensive care units.
In Kuala Lumpur, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican reminded people that the spread of the virus was still prevalent, although there was a reduction of cases recently.