HPV vaccine and the controversy

The HPV vaccine has been a major medical breakthrough in recent times .Worldwide, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women whereas in India ,Cancer of the uterine cervix is the commonest .This for a disease which can be detected very early by a simple screening test called the PAP smear .Even among the urban population less than 10 % of women get screened for Cancer cervix.


The vaccine has been in wide spread use in India for sometime now .The recent deaths in a research trial in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat has understandably created an outcry in the press and the public.Now the Government has gone on record that the deaths were not vaccine related .Whatever may have been the cause of death ,there seem to have been serious lapses in the conduct of the trial .These lapses have led to the interruption of the vaccination and also cast a cloud on its efficacy and side effects .

The government should act fast in elucidating the cause of deaths of those vaccinated and also identify and penalise those who have been responsible for the serious lapses in obtaining consent .By and by ,India is becoming a site for research trials for various international organisations .The need of the hour is to set up appropriate monitoring mechanisms for the approval and the conduct of these trials .This will ensure that ,we will stand to get the benefits of worthy trials and trials which are aimed at using our population as guinea bigs will be kept at bay ...
Undue delay in the investigation will jeopardise the use and credibility of the vaccine which could render protection to so many women ....


Poongulali

leaders to followers

Yesterday ,I travelled from Mandaveli to Annanagar .To my surprise too many political leaders seemed to be on the prowl yesterday .All along the route from Mandaveli to Nungambakkam it was Amma who towered in the cutouts on either side of the road .There were all kinds of declarations and a huge banner just under the Gemini flyover called her the Muthalvar ?:))))I departed from Amma at Valluvar kottam from where for a short while I was accompanied by Thayanidi Maran.

All around the Valluvar Kottam area were huge banners of Thiruma with Kalaignar .Sharing the
screen space with them was Baba Saheb Ambedkar whose birthday they were all celebrating .From then on it was Annan Alagiri all the way ..Alagiri ,Mrs.Alagiri ,Thayanidhi Alagiri all waved from the colourful banners and what more in colourful costumes too .Making himself visibly inconspicuous along with Thayanidhi was another youngster, his partner ? in JAK TV I suppose ..


While Amma had stepped out to garland Ambedkar's statue ,Thiruma was gearing up to add one more award to the Chief Minister who seems always ready to grab one more .Annan's outing was more of a family occasion where he stepped in to bless his son's business venture.They definitely brightened the Chennai landscape with banners and party flags and pithy quotes ...
I was wondering what a drab Chennai life will be without Amma ,Ayya and Annan.....

Everyday

Every morning ,six days a week ,patients walk in and out of my consultation room .They come with all kinds of complaints ,all kinds of stories.They expect that I will not only prescribe but also listen and react to what they say and suggest if possible the single universal remedy for all their worldly troubles and more so without any medicines .Since all my patients are HIV infected ,they always come hoping that I will tell them that a permanent cure is on the horizon .

Some , believe all that you have to say ,take any number of medicines that you care to prescribe and trust with all their heart.But there are also the sceptics who after hours of patient explanations go back with the least faith in me and my medicines.These two are better than the third group which chiefly consists of cats on the wall .They come ,they talk ,they get examined and they take away the prescriptions with due respect and regard but when they come back always tell you that they have taken one month of medicines when three were due and half tablets were one was prescribed and come back after one year when they should have returned after three swift months .These are the rebels of the system .They loathe the fact the fact that they should be prevailed upon by a woman wearing a white coat to take what they know is not good for them .They believe ,that modern medicine is a conspiracy against humanity and its natural immunity and it is better to fight from within .It is these people who make the practice of medicine as lively and challenging as it is today .

Every patient I believe ,is a walking lesson and it is by proper study of them that my prescriptions can ever get their due recognition and adherence......