The involvement of the United Nations and the industrialized nations in aggressive population control programs has triggered deep and often justified suspicion among the people of the various nations. A recent series of incidents explains some concerns.
On 17 October 1994, a national vaccination campaign organized by the Secretary of Health began in Mexico. The campaign included tetanus toxoid vaccinations; the target population included twelve year-old elementary school girls, high school girls, pregnant women and women of reproductive age. The campaign took place in the Mexican states of Sonora, San Luis Potosi, Guadalajara, Tamaulipas, Puebla, D.F., Veracruz, and Morelcs, among others; the vaccinations among school girls were carried out in both private and public elementary and high schools.
Parents requested samples of the vaccine from the nurses who injected the vaccine. The samples were analyzed in several different laboratories. Laboratory samples revealed the presence of Chorionic Gonadotrophin (hCG): “Vaccine key 3809 Tetanic Toxoid, injectable suspension, lot TT160-12, containing Chorionic Gonadtrophin Beta HCG 11.1 mUI/ml; Anatoxal Vaccine TE Berna, tetanic vaccine in adsorption, lot No.124740l0l, containing Chorionic Gonatrophin Beta 2.l mUI/ml.” The report description continued, “Tetanic toxoid vaccine is found in the presence of immunoglobulins of type IGM and IGA, as well as, a light concentration of sexual steroids.”
The situation, along with the deep concerns it generated, was duplicated in the Philippines. An ongoing vaccination campaign in the Philippines was punctuated by women complaining of symptoms including vaginal bleeding and early miscarriages. An investigation was undertaken by Philippine nongovernmental organizations. Vials of the vaccine were submitted to the Makati Medical Center for testing; the analysis revealed the presence of “insignificant traces” of hCG, The presence of hCG was explained by Makati medical authorities as occurring “naturally in biodegradable materials,” The fact is that the biodegradable material in which human chorionic gonadtrophin appears naturally is in the chorion of the pregnant women.
Aware of the development and research in anti-fertility vaccines under the aegis of the World Health Organization, medical personnel and family members alike also questioned the Department of Health the subjection of women to a series of five vaccinations as opposed to the usual single vaccination which lasts for a period of ten years, “Oh,” said Dr. Costales, project manager of the Philippine Department of Health (DOH), “The first two doses will protect a mother and child for three years, the third will extend protection up to five years, and the fourth dose, up to 10 years. The fifth dose by which time a woman can be said to be fully immunized, gives protection against tetanus for 35 years. If a woman gets the first dose when she’s 20, and gets all five doses, then we can be reasonable sure she’s covered throughout her child-bearing years.”
The history of the World Health Organization’s involvement in anti-fertility research began in 1974. The research was directed against human chorionic gonadtrophin (hCG), also known as the ‘pregnancy hormone’, because hCG sustains the ovum once fertilized, and is essential for implantation. When the hCG vaccine is introduced into the woman’s body, the woman’s immune system produces antibodies (anti-hCG) that will disable or deactivate real hCG it’ and when she becomes pregnant. If the hCG, which occurs naturally in the woman’s body only when she is pregnant, is attacked by the antibodies, the pregnancy would be terminated, primarily by the disruption of implantation.
The two organizations carrying out this research under the aegis of the World Health Organization (WHO) are: The National Institute of Immunology (NII), New Delhi, India; The Population Council, New York, U.S. Different approaches have been adopted in these research programs. In all three approaches, linkage to a carrier vaccine is necessary to overcome the woman’s immunological tolerance to hCG. The national Institute of Immunology in New Delhi uses a variety of formulations based on the complete B-subunit (B-hCG) of the hormone have been developed in India by NII. A number of different character molecules have been used in the NII formulations, including Tetanus Toxoid, Diptheria Toxoid, and Cholera chain B. The Population Council in New York developed an hCG vaccine is based on the complete B-subunit (B-hCG) of the hormone coupled to Tetanus Toxoid only.
All of the above are highly immunogenic but have the disadvantage of eliciting antibodies cross-reacting with human leutinizing hormone (hLH). The leutinizing hormone (LH) is secreted by the pituitary gland and causes the ovary to release ovum according to each woman’s pattern of fertility.
The World Health Organization, Geneva, has developed an hCG vaccine which uses a 37 mer synthetic peptide (B-hCG-CTP), based on the apparently hormone-specific carboxyterminal of B-hCG coupled to Diptheria-Toxoid. Although the WHO vaccine is less immunogenic than the other formulations, the antibodies it elicits do not crossreact with human leutinizing hormone (hLH).
As of 1988, Phase l clinical trials on sterile humans have been conducted by all three institutions to evaluate the immunogenicity and other effects of these hCG vaccines. Additional experiments show that poor responders can be given booster injections of a different B-hCG vaccine preparation, incorporating an alternative carrier molecule. Phase III clinical trials on fertile humans are being conducted. After much further development and pre-clinical trials, Phase III trials are most probably being conducted today.
