Women’s association in Turkey files criminal complaint against Canan Karatay for HPV vaccine misinformation

Duvar English 

Children and Women First Association of Turkey on Jan. 3 announced that it has filed a criminal complaint against famed doctor and TV personality Canan Karatay for “threatening public health” with her claims that the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine caused paralysis.

The association stated that Karatay’s claims in a YouTube video dated Jan. 1 constituted “deliberate misinformation of the public” about the HPV vaccine. 

The association’s social media post stated, “1250 women die in Turkey each year due to cancers related to HPV. We filed a criminal complaint against Karatay who threatens public health with her claims on the HPV vaccination, one of the most meaningful achievements of women’s struggle.”

Karatay said that people should steer clear of the HPV vaccine, and suggested that the young girls who got the HPV vaccine got strokes, their intestine system failed, they were lethargic, had diarrhea. The doctor alleged that the vaccine was “a grand propaganda orchestrated by Western pharmaceutical companies,” that aimed to “eliminate reproduction in Africa.” 

Nergis Erdoğan, chair of the Istanbul Medical Chamber (İTO), stated that they have received complaints regarding Karatay, and the chamber would convene next week to decide on the matter. 

Karatay is a heart and internal medicine professor, and also a popular figure who often appears on daytime TV for medical advice. She has been criticized for other controversial statements regarding eating habits and diets.

January is the HPV awareness month, and NGOs led by the Children and Women First Association are fighting to include the HPV vaccine into the national immunization program and force government to offer it free. Currently, the 3-dose vaccination costs around 10,000 Turkish liras ($330), rendering it inaccessible to a majority of Turkey's population.