Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 20 December 2012

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children

Gardasil Vaccine (HPV) and Meningococcal Group B Vaccine: Discussion

9:50 am

Photo of Denis NaughtenDenis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the witnesses for coming before the joint committee. As this meeting has shown, vaccines are an emotive issue. As Ms Paula Byrne noted, parents need to be given information to allow them to make an informed decision on whether to vaccinate. Sadly in this country, this basic requirement is ignored at times.

Ms Hogan pointed out that adverse reactions to the HPV vaccine have been recorded in Washington. How many such cases have been recorded and what is the ratio of adverse reactions to the number of vaccinations administered? It is important to have balance in this matter.

The officials from the Department will correct me if I am wrong but I understand that in respect of all vaccines, decisions must first be taken on the efficacy of the product in question, after which a cost-benefit analysis is carried out. Senator Crown highlighted the significant benefits associated with the HPV vaccine. One must weigh up the adverse reactions to the vaccine and their incidence and scale against the risk of not vaccinating.

It is frustrating that medical policy makers in this country ignore and are afraid to acknowledge that there are adverse reactions associated with vaccination. It is a medical fact that no vaccine is 100% safe, there are risks associated with vaccines and people are damaged by them. The number of adverse reactions to vaccines is probably higher here than elsewhere in Europe probably as a result of our limited genetic pool. The issue is the scale of adverse reactions, that is, whether they are minor or severe.

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