Ms Paula Byrne:

I will concentrate on my main point, which relates to the information given in the brochure. I accept that it is the opinion of many scientists and clinicians throughout the world that the vaccine is a good idea. However, I wish to point out that there are many other scientists and clinicians throughout the world who have examined the same evidence and come to the opposite conclusion. I have supplied supplementary information to the committee quoting from the medical journals. I offer one recent example from the Annals of Medicine. The article is entitled "Human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine policy and evidence-based medicine: Are they at odds?" and it states: "Current worldwide HPV immunization practices with either of the two HPV vaccines (Gardasil or Cervarix) appear to be neither justified by long-term health benefits nor economically viable, nor is there any evidence that HPV vaccination (even if proven effective against cervical cancer) would reduce the rate of cervical cancer beyond what Pap screening has already achieved."