Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 November 2018
378. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Health to set out the dates he formally approved each of the human papillomavirus vaccination campaigns in 2017 and 2018, including the Armed for Life and Protect our Future campaigns. [46830/18]
View answerImmunisation is regarded as one of the safest and most cost-effective of all health care interventions and one of the most effective ways a parent can protect the health of their child. In recent years, the spread of inaccurate information on social media concerning the safety and effectiveness of the HPV vaccine has had an impact on uptake rates. Misinformation has led to a significant drop in uptake rates of the HPV vaccine from 87% in 2014/15; 72% in 2015/16 to 51% in 2016/17.
One of the most important things that can be done is to provide accurate and credible information to enable parents to make a fully informed decision concerning HPV vaccination. The HSE National Immunisation Office has developed a comprehensive range of materials for parents, schools and medical practitioners as part of the immunisation programme.
Each year, at the start of the school term, the HSE runs an awareness campaign for parents to help them access trusted sources of information to encourage them to get their daughters vaccinated with the HPV vaccine. The HPV vaccine information campaign recommends that parents access trusted sources of information such as the HPV website (hpv.ie) which has been endorsed by the World Health Organization. The information campaign is supported by social and digital media activity as well as local and national radio advertisements. I personally spoke at the launch of the 2017 and 2018 HPV vaccine information campaigns and am fully supportive of the valuable work undertaken by the HSE. From time to time, other HPV campaigns are organised by the HSE using social media (for example, the 2016/17 campaign 'Armed for Life' and 2017/18 campaign 'Protect our Future', both of which were promoted on YouTube).
Figures provided by the HSE indicate that HPV vaccine uptake rates increased in 2017/18 to 65%. This increase is mainly due to a comprehensive communications campaign for parents with support from a large number of key stakeholders, e.g. the HPV alliance which currently has 37 organisations working together (such as the Irish Cancer Society and the Marie Keating Foundation).
While this increase is very welcome, we must continue to work together to get back to where we were once before. As recently as the 2014/15 academic year the uptake rate for HPV was at 87%. The HSE vaccination programme for 2018/19 started in September 2018.
The Government fully supports the HPV immunisation programme and recognises its benefits. We must continue to focus on increasing uptake rates as the best way of reducing cervical cancer. I encourage the parents of all eligible girls to ensure that their daughters receive this important life-saving vaccine.
