It is very good to be with the Leas-Chathaoirleach and the Members in their new temporary Seanad Chamber. I thank Senator Tim Lombard for tabling this very important issue, which provides me with an opportunity to update the Seanad on what is a very important public health matter.
As Senator Lombard will be aware, immunisation is regarded as one of the safest and most cost effective of health care interventions and the importance of vaccination is acknowledged by all the major health organisations. The Senator is entirely correct. Due to a very successful childhood immunisation programme, the uptake rates for many of our very important vaccinations are now in line with World Health Organization, WHO, targets, which is saving lives and helping to create healthier children at a younger age and throughout their lives.
There is strong evidence of the beneficial impact of the HPV vaccine for women’s health in countries that have had high uptake rates. For example, cases of high grade pre-cancerous changes of the cervix have reduced by 75% in Australia and by more than 50% in Scotland as a result of the high uptake rate of this vaccine. As Senator Lombard correctly said, this is a vaccine that can and is saving lives.
I want to assure Senator Lombard that one of my absolute priorities as Minister for Health, and a priority of the Health Service Executive, HSE, is to counter misinformation relating to the safety of vaccines, and to increase uptake rates of all vaccines in the State's immunisation programmes. That is important. It is not good enough for us to sit silently by. All of us who hold public office have a duty to help get the facts and the information out to the public and to debunk the myths. That is why I showed my strong support for this vaccine when I launched a new HSE HPV information campaign at the end of August. That is an excellent campaign and I pay tribute to the HSE and the many doctors who worked with it in putting that together. It is operating alongside a very effective campaign of information but from an alliance of medical experts who have come together to get the facts out, debunk the myths and make sure parents can make informed choices.
I am pleased to see the work of the HSE in developing a comprehensive range of materials as part of the immunisation programme for this new school year has started. This includes a letter to parents concerning the vaccination programme, leaflets giving the facts about the HPV vaccine and cervical cancer for parents and teachers and a HPV vaccine key facts leaflet for general practitioners, GPs.
Prior to all school immunisations, parents receive an information pack in a sealed package with an information leaflet, a consent form and a cover letter. The information packs for all immunisations are standardised nationally. The information booklets include information on all the known side effects that can occur after any vaccination. Parents are also given contact details for their local immunisation office and advised to speak to a member of the school immunisation team if they have any further questions.
The HSE has invested in marketing communications at a time when parents are receiving our information packs and consent forms in schools, and when the vaccines will be given to girls.
As we speak, advertisements are running on radio stations nationally to coincide with the provision of this information to parents. This five-week campaign of national and regional radio advertising started last week and will include social media posts on Facebook and Twitter as well as digital advertising.
It is very clear that misinformation is causing real harm to unvaccinated children and to adults who develop vaccine-preventable diseases. A number of years ago, the big political outrage on this issue was that the vaccine was not available to girls in this country and was not being funded. Indeed, my predecessor, Senator James Reilly, campaigned for it prior to its brave introduction by another predecessor, Mary Harney. She saw its importance.
As Senator Lombard rightly points out, there was a very good uptake with 87% of eligible girls having this vaccine three years ago, but that rate has dropped to 50% in the last academic year due to misinformation. The Irish Cancer Society estimates that this drop will have the following consequences, which are startling: that 1,000 girls will require invasive therapy to prevent the precancerous form of HPV; 100 girls will develop cervical cancer and require life altering treatment; and the deaths will take place of at least 40 girls with cervical cancer who did not receive the HPV vaccine. The consequences of this are very serious, which is why I get agitated and use strong language when I hear people making ignorant and uninformed comments. We must take our advice on vaccinations from medical experts. In this case, the advice is very clearly that this is a fully tested vaccine which protects against the main cancer-causing strains of HPV and will eventually save around 60 lives in Ireland each and every year. That is 60 girls who will go on into womanhood alive and well as a result of this vaccine. The benefits of this vaccine are clear. It can, does and will save lives.
To respond directly to Senator Lombard's question on a follow-up campaign, I am pleased to inform him that one is now in place. If there are parents at home today who decided at the time they did not want to get their child vaccinated but have now informed themselves of the facts and would like to get it done, they need not feel they have missed out. Any girl can be provided with the vaccine through the school immunisation programme, which is important information to get out to our communities.
