— says CMO

CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER (CMO), Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, said parents who do not wish for their children to receive the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, Gardasil, must “opt out” through a signed document.

Speaking to members of the media yesterday (Tuesday, March 12, 2019), Dr. Persaud explained that, previously, the delivery of the HPV vaccine required consent, but that programme was revised since it was found to be a barrier to persons accessing the vaccine.

According to him, persons indicated previously that they wanted their children to receive the vaccine but, in some cases, could not have signed the consent forms.

As such, he related: “We discussed this at the policy level and the decision was made to have an ‘opt out’ process.”

“It’s not a case where you have to get a consent for each dose of the HPV administered. You can decide that, in your informed decision, you don’t want your child to have the vaccine. You will then sign off,” he explained.

“Otherwise, we will assume that you have agreed to have the child immunised against HPV,” the CMO said.

He contended that once the vaccines are to be delivered in schools, the health personnel should first meet with the Parent Teachers Association (PTA) and inform its members of the vaccines and outline to them the process by which they can opt out.

Furthermore, he said that the necessary “opt out” documents should be available at the schools, in addition to information pamphlets provided by the Public Health Ministry.

The ministry recently launched an emergency HPV vaccine campaign from February 11 to March 13, where it revised the age limits of the recipients from age nine to 16, and has now included boys. This was done after several requests were made by the public.

“We do have a small, very small portion of persons who would opt out and a lot of times, even when they have indicated they would like to opt out, the health visitors will have conversations with them and discuss some of the ramifications,” he highlighted.

“If there is a signed document to say that you do not want your child to have the vaccine, the vaccine would not be given,” Dr Persaud indicated. The CMO also noted that he has not received any reports of children receiving HPV vaccines “without any proper procedures applied”.