More than 660,000 doses of the HPV Vaccinations have been distributed in Ireland to date. I, like most other girls my age, received this vaccination. However, at the time of receiving this injection, were you aware that hundreds of Irish girls have been left critically ill following their dose of this vaccine? I most certainly was not.
R.E.G.R.E.T (Reactions and Effects of Gardasil Resulting in Extreme Traumas) is an advocacy group made up of young girls who received this vaccination and their parents. The group stands for more than 400 cases of girls who have come forward to tell their story of the negative and life changing side effects they have endured as result of taking this Health Service Executive vaccine.
Over 400 cases tell stories of young girls left with long-term health difficulties upon receiving the vaccination, suffering from side-effects such as headaches, excessive fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, gastrointestinal discomfort, nerve-related pain, sleep disruption and light sensitivity. What is even scarier is the lack of awareness of this frightening number of girls who have been left in this position and the HSE’s continuation to distribute this vaccine despite their knowledge of what is happening all over Ireland.
Official HSE information leaflets detailing the side effects of the vaccine contain no mention of the side effects these girls suffering post-Gardasil disease have endured. The anti-cervical cancer vaccine has not just sparked concern in Ireland but internationally too, so why are we not made aware of the enormous and potentially life changing risk we were taking when receiving this vaccination?
Girls all over the world have been left bed-bound with acute physical side effects and it terrifies me that I unknowingly took that very same risk. So why is the HSE not providing girls with the honest information needed to make such an important decision?
Are they lying to the public or do they genuinely believe this vaccination is safe? It is heart-breaking to read story after story of young girls whose lives have been ruined due a decision which could have been so easily avoided, and it disgusts me that the HSE still promotes and distributes this vaccine knowing what it has done to such a large portion of our youth.
This is an issue that needs to be talked about in order to allow future parents and their daughters the choice to make truly informed decisions on the issue of the vaccine, and question if it is really worth the risk. I stand by R.E.G.R.E.T in stating that the downplaying of safety issues by the HSE is not only dishonest but in fact evil, when you look at the many young lives this vaccine has stolen and the families it has torn apart. If we can avoid something as tragic as this, why would we not?
Aoife Marnell
Image Credit: Shutterstock
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