Lisa Chambers
Question:202. Deputy Lisa Chambers asked the Minister for Health when the HPV vaccine will be rolled out for boys and girls. [51017/18]
View answerWednesday, 5 December 2018
Questions (202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209)
Lisa Chambers
Question:203. Deputy Lisa Chambers asked the Minister for Health if the HPV vaccine will be rolled out for boys and girls in September 2019. [51018/18]
View answerLisa Chambers
Question:204. Deputy Lisa Chambers asked the Minister for Health the way in which he plans to roll out the HPV vaccine for boys and girls in September 2019. [51019/18]
View answerLisa Chambers
Question:205. Deputy Lisa Chambers asked the Minister for Health the ages at which boys and girls will receive the HPV vaccine; the way in which it will be carried out, for example, in national school, secondary school or through the general practitioner network. [51020/18]
View answerLisa Chambers
Question:206. Deputy Lisa Chambers asked the Minister for Health the age at which boys and girls will receive the HPV vaccine. [51021/18]
View answerLisa Chambers
Question:207. Deputy Lisa Chambers asked the Minister for Health the budget in 2019 to commence the roll-out of the HPV vaccine for boys and girls in September 2019. [51022/18]
View answerLisa Chambers
Question:208. Deputy Lisa Chambers asked the Minister for Health the projected annual cost of the proposed roll-out of the HPV vaccine for boys and girls; and the area in which this is budgeted for. [51023/18]
View answerLisa Chambers
Question:209. Deputy Lisa Chambers asked the Minister for Health the consultation he has had with the HSE and the medical profession regarding the roll-out of the HPV vaccine for boys and girls. [51024/18]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 202 to 209, inclusive, together.
The immunisation programme in Ireland is based on the advice of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC). NIAC is a committee of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland comprising of experts in a number of specialties from the medical profession (including infectious diseases, paediatrics and public health). The committee's recommendations are based on the prevalence of the relevant disease in Ireland and informed by public health advice and international best practice in relation to immunisation. All relevant and appropriate information is taken into account when deciding to make changes to the State's immunisation programmes. NIAC has made a recommendation that the HPV vaccine should be given to boys.
On foot of NIAC’s recommendation, the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has undertaken a health technology assessment (HTA), at the request of my Department, on extending the national immunisation schedule to include human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination for boys. The HTA will establish the clinical and cost-effectiveness of providing the vaccine to boys. The decision to extend the current programme which offers HPV vaccination to all girls in their first year of second-level education to a programme that will also offer vaccination to boys will be informed by the evidence contained in the HTA. HIQA has completed a public consultation on the draft HTA and is expected to submit its final recommendation to my Department next week following its recent sign-off at its Board Meeting in November.
As I have previously stated, subject to a favourable HTA, I will seek on behalf of the Government to extend this vaccine universally as a priority. If a positive recommendation is received from HIQA, it is anticipated that the rollout of the HPV vaccination programme for boys would commence in September 2019 for 12/13 year old boys in their first year of secondary school. The HSE has included costs of €3.25 million for 2019, €4.41 million for 2020 and €4.65 million for 2021 in their Estimates submission. Funding has been made available in the budget to facilitate the introduction of this initiative, should it receive a favourable recommendation.