Balm of Gilead

By James Ong

Reproduced below is the text of my letter to Dr. Hariharan, after learning, with great surprise, that only two vaccines are really compulsory.  I am aware that when parents are enrolling their children into Primary One, the schools do check that the children have completed their vaccinations according to the National Childhood Immunisation Programme.  So, it’s getting complicated.  MoH says eight of the ten vaccines are not mandatory but MoE has the right, it appears, to refuse school enrolment for any child who did not complete all his vaccinations.  Does this mean that parents who refuse any or most of the other eight vaccines for their child have to home-school their kids or find a private school willing to take them?  There seems to be no justice in all this.

Dear Dr. Hariharan,

Thank you so much for your reply to my emails, on behalf of the Health Minister.

I am quite relieved that the PCV-7 and many other childhood vaccines are not compulsory in Singapore. It has renewed my faith that the Ministry of Health honors parents’ right of medical freedom. As I have stated in my first email, the prevention (PCV-7) appears to be more dangerous than the disease itself, based on the clinical trials and US VAERS data.

At the same time however, I am concerned that many parents in Singapore are not aware of their rights. Parents are routinely “coerced” into vaccinating their children according to the immunization schedule. I believe the general public is of the impression that they have to vaccinate their children with all the vaccines in the Childhood Immunization Program or risk certain repercussions.

I would like to offer the following feedback and suggestons which I hope the MoH will look into seriously:

1. MoH should publicly clarify in the local newspapers and on its website and the HPB’s website that only two vaccines – measles and diphtheria – are compulsory by law; the rest are entirely voluntary.

2. Parents should be made aware that they have a legal right to delay or postpone even compulsory vaccinations like measles and diphtheria. This can be covered in the same announcement stated in point one above.

3. Doctors, nurses and hospitals should not “coerce” or unduly influence parents into vaccinating their children with non-compulsory vaccines. I was told that newborns are not permitted to leave the hospital until the BCG and Hep B jabs are given. As far as I am aware, parents are hardly ever consulted whether they would agree to have their children vaccinated. The vaccines are just routinely given as if they were a must.

4. MoH should ensure that there is no discrimination by publicly-run schools or kindergartens against children who have not been vaccinated with the non-compulsory vaccines. It is my understanding that the MoE requires all the recommended vaccinations to be completed before a child can be enrolled into Primary One. I hope that the MoH and MoE can work together to ensure that no child is discriminated against just because of incomplete adherence to the recommended childhood vaccination schedule.

5. Parents should be given all the facts regarding the risks vs. benefits of each vaccine and asked to sign a consent form before the vaccine is given.

6. After any vaccine is given, parents should be advised to observe their child for at least 30 days to see if there are any adverse reactions and notify the HSA immediately (with a hotline number given) by means of a formal reporting system and to seek medical help if necessary. This advisory should be in the form of a printed handout. An online notification system should also be developed as soon as possible to facilitate online reporting. Parents should also be advised as to their legal right to claim damages should there be a serious adverse reaction following vaccination. Who is responsible? The clinic, vaccine supplier or the MoH?

7. Since only the measles and diphtheria vaccines are compulsory, MoH should ensure that single vaccines for measles and diphtheria are available at all polyclinics and private clinics, to meet the demand by parents for these single vaccines. I feel that parents should not be forced to have their children vaccinated with 3-in-1s like MMR and DtaP just because there are no alternatives?

8. MoH should put in more effort to educate parents on how to build their children’s immunity, beyond just a balanced diet, sleep, exercise and personal hygiene. The officers responsible for infectious disease policy and control should read books like “Beyond Antibiotics” by Dr. Michael Schmidt and “Herbal Antibiotics” by Stephen Harrod Buhner and then teach the public how to prevent infectious diseases through all natural means possible and improve the chances of a speedy, uncomplicated recovery should their child succumb to the disease, by fortifying the immune system. This should apply to all the other diseases now covered by the Childhood Immunization Program – mumps, rubella, tetanus, polio, Hep B, etc.

9. MoH should evaluate the use of natural medicines for the treatment of infectious diseases in light of the growing resistance of many types of pathogenic bacteria to antibiotics and the threat of dengue fever, HFMD, chikungunya disease, H5N1 bird flu, H1N1 swine flu and SARS. It is an accepted medical fact that many antibiotics are fast becoming powerless against drug-resistant bacteria.

10. MoH should rename the “National Childhood Immunization Program” as the “National Childhood Vaccination Program” because vaccination is not synonymous with immunization. People should not be complacently led to believe that they are immune from a disease just because they have been vaccinated against it. Vaccines are not 100% effective and do not confer lifelong immunity. For instance, a child can still be infected with invasive pneumococcal disease caused by other strains of bacteria not covered in the PCV-7.

Further to the above, I would like to request MoH to provide answers to the following questions:

1. Why the oral polio vaccine is still being given when it has already been replaced in many countries by the injectable form which is safer. Oral polio vaccine was responsible for causing several cases of polio in the West.

2. Are there still any routine childhood vaccines that contain thimerosal or ethylmercury as preservatives (these have been banned in many Western countries)?

3. If all childhood vaccines are thimerosal- or ethylmercury-free now, when were they removed from childhood vaccines? MoH should provide a timetable showing the dates they were removed.

4. In view of almost universal coverage for the BCG, Hep B, MMR and DtaP vaccines, why are there still significant numbers of cases of tuberculosis, measles, hepatitis B, mumps, rubella and pertussis in Singapore each year?

Finally I wish to personally testify that I have not consumed a single antibiotic, antiviral or medical drug (except for an antifungal medication once for a bad foot fungal infection) over the last eight years. I am confident that thousands of Singaporeans who know how to support their immune system naturally also share the same experience. I am pleased to enclose herewith several papers showing the power of natural medicines such as elderberry, zinc, vitamin C, oregano, cumin, sage and cinnamon against viral and bacterial pathogens for your review. There is evidence that such natural medicines are also effective against HFMD, dengue fever, chikungunya disease, chicken pox and rubella.

Best regards,

I await Dr. Hariharan’s reply.  It looks like parents may have to address their concerns to the Ministry of Education as well.