Indian MPs criticise HPV vaccination project for ethical violations

A parliamentary panel has criticised the Indian Council of Medical Research and the international non-profit Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) for their human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine project in India, which drew controversy three years ago.1

The panel that oversees India’s health ministry has said that the project, which administered the HPV vaccine to about 20 000 girls aged 10 to 14 years in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat during 2009-10, had breached medical ethics and violated Indian regulations on clinical trials.

Health activists and women’s rights groups had asked the government to look into the project in early 2010 after they had documented irregularities in the project’s informed consent papers and after adverse effects were reported among vaccinated girls in Andhra Pradesh.1

The parliamentary panel, which submitted its report last week, investigated the affair after a committee set up by the health ministry had confirmed that the project had violated ethical guidelines but did not hold anyone or any agency responsible for the lapses.

PATH, which is based in Seattle, …