Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to convey the apologies of the Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, to Deputies Griffith, Healy-Rae and Lahart. Unfortunately, he is not able to be here and has asked me to deal with this very important matter. I thank Deputy Griffin for his kind words of congratulation.

I thank Deputies Griffin and Healy-Rae for giving me the opportunity to provide an update to the House on this very important issue. The HPV vaccine, which was introduced in 2010, protects girls from cervical cancer when they are adults. It is available free of charge from the HSE for all girls in the first year of secondary school. I am aware of claims of an association between the HPV vaccine and a number of conditions being experienced by a group of young women. I want to provide assurances to them and their families that they are eligible to seek medical attention and to access appropriate health and social care services irrespective of the cause of their symptoms. The HSE is currently developing a care pathway for young people who are experiencing symptoms of this type and will be in a position to facilitate access to specialist services tailored to the needs of each individual.

It appears that some girls first suffered symptoms around the same time that they received the HPV vaccine and understandably some parents have connected the vaccine to their children's condition. I wish to again emphasise why HPV was introduced in 2010. Each year in Ireland around 300 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and there are approximately 70 deaths per year. The HPV vaccine protects against two high-risk types of HPV that cause 73% of all cervical cancers. The vaccine used in the school immunisation programme is Gardasil and more than 200,000 girls have received it since its introduction. Gardasil is a fully tested vaccine which was licensed by the European Medicines Agency in 2006. While no medicine, including vaccines, is entirely without risk, the safety profile of Gardasil has been continuously monitored since it was first authorised nationally and at EU level.

In November 2015, the European Medicines Agency completed a detailed scientific review of the HPV vaccine. The review, in which the Health Products Regulatory Authority participated, focused on rare reports of two conditions, namely, complex regional pain syndrome and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. The review found no evidence of a causal link between the vaccine and the two conditions. On 12 January 2016, the European Commission endorsed the conclusion of the European Medicines Agency that there is no need to change the way HPV vaccines are used or to amend the product information, which is now binding in all member states. Health care professionals are advised to continue using HPV vaccines in accordance with the current product information.

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