Medical sector lawmaker David Lam on Wednesday accused several medical centres of fraud for claiming to offer a vaccine that prevents multiple cancers without supporting clinical data.

The Department of Health said in an earlier statement that it was following up on the matter, including carrying out enforcement actions.

The department was alerted in July that HK Pacific Asia Medical Centre and its affiliated organisations claimed on social media that they offered the Wilms' tumor 1 (WT1) vaccine.

The department reminded the public that the WT1 vaccine is not a registered pharmaceutical product in Hong Kong, and no relevant registration records could be found with drug regulatory authorities on the mainland or overseas.

The department added that the treatment claims were misleading and could be fraudulent, adding it could delay people from seeking proper treatment.

Speaking on an RTHK radio programme, Lam called on authorities to take down relevant advertisements for the jab.

“The Department of Health – or relevant law enforcement agencies – should liaise with those platforms to have them remove the advertisements, and carry out investigations and prosecute organisations that issue these advertisements,” he said.

“This is very important to the public's health. If we allow these kinds of advertisements to be widely circulated, it will pose a major health threat to the public.”

Lam denounced those offering the vaccine for their “unethical” behaviour by making use of people’s fear of cancer and patients’ desperate mindsets to lure them to take the jab.

He condemned them for offering false hopes to patients.

While media reports said that the WT1 vaccine had been supplied to hospitals, Lam pointed out that it is only being used for scientific research, not for treatment, adding that the vaccine had not reached a stage where it could be considered safe for clinical trials.

He called on the public to seek medical advice before using any new pharmaceutical products.




Edited by Tony Sabine