Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the Deputies who contributed to what has been a really important and powerful debate. I thank my colleague, Deputy Kelly, for drafting the motion on behalf of the party and placing it before the House. It is my hope and expectation that it will pass without dissent, and perhaps that will still be the outcome of the debate.

One of the greatest advances by humanity was the harnessing of the power of vaccination to combat disease. Throughout our history, the scourge of viruses and bacteria has devastated people across the globe. Epidemics and plagues were a constant fear. Through the application of centuries of scientific research, we, as a species, have been able to combat dozens of diseases that once routinely killed millions. The success of these efforts should not be forgotten, and we will continually search out new ways to defeat diseases that so often were a constant threat to our very survival as a species. However, in some ways the success of vaccination has inured us to how radical a development it still is in preventing disease.

This history is important for us to remember. When Edward Jenner used cowpox material to inoculate against smallpox in 1796 and publicised his findings throughout the then known world, he began the process of eradication that officially achieved, in 1980, the eradication of the once dreaded disease of smallpox. It was the first disease to have been fought on a global scale, and millions of human beings have been spared the horror of smallpox as a result. In 1885, Louis Pasteur's rabies vaccine added to our arsenal against yet another lethal disease. Progress accelerated in the 20th century with Salk's vaccine for the debilitating polio virus, while vaccines were developed to combat tetanus, anthrax, typhoid, tuberculosis, diphtheria and more. Even in our own folk memory, we can recall the horror of the word "tuberculosis". Generations of Irish people were horrified by the notion of tuberculosis and those who suffered from it were avoided.

One of the greatest successes has been in combating childhood diseases such as measles, mumps and rubella, dangerous diseases that have nearly been eradicated in many areas. However, the false concerns raised about a link to autism saw rates of vaccination plummet. The consequences of this have been, as my colleague, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan said, renewed outbreaks of a potentially lethal disease in our country. Therefore, we really must be vigilant and clear about these matters. To quote the director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, "It is tragic and unacceptable that 49 children and adults in EU countries have died from complications of measles infection in the past two years, while safe and effective vaccines are readily available." Despite Andrew Wakefield's 1998 report linking MMR and autism being disproved, surveys have shown that up to a third of parents still automatically link the vaccine with autism.

People will always be concerned about the risks of vaccines, or indeed the risks of any medicine or treatment. As Deputy Harty rightly said, there is no such thing as completely risk-free treatment of any kind. However, the risks must be constantly balanced by the enormous benefits that can come from proven treatment. Millions of people are alive because of vaccination.

The 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was jointly awarded to Harald zur Hausen for his work on identifying HPV as a cause of cervical cancer. His discoveries in the 1970s and through the 1980s were groundbreaking as they went against the dogma of the time on how cancer was caused. There are more than 100 types of HPV, 15 of which put women at a high risk of cervical cancer. More than 5% of all cancers worldwide - I ask the House to think about this - are associated with HPV. On foot of the fact that HPV is the most common sexually-transmitted disease, affecting anywhere from 50% to 80% of the population, it was this pioneering work to link it to cancer that gave us the real chance to protect us against all these cancers. Science builds on the work of others, and from that original research a vaccine was developed. That vaccine now provides greater than 99% protection from infection from the most high-risk strains, namely HPV 16 and HPV 18, as well as two others.

This means that the vaccine as used in Ireland, Gardasil, is effective, as my colleague, Deputy Kelly, said, against seven out of ten of all cervical cancers. Deputy Burton indicated how awful a disease cervical cancer is, how cruel a disease it is for young women in particular - for all women - and asked why, if we have a method of preventing it in seven out of ten cases, we would not advocate it from the rooftops. The more people who are vaccinated, the lower the levels of cancer and the lower the risk to the population as a whole. In populations among which the vaccine has been widely adopted there has been, as speaker after speaker has indicated, a major drop in the levels of cervical cancer. The most progressive countries use it and have proven its effectiveness. We want the vaccine extended to boys in their first year of secondary school because they too can develop HPV-associated cancers in later life. Extending the HPV vaccine to boys makes common sense and medical sense. The evidence for this is to be found in analyses carried out across the globe in countries such as Australia.

The HSE campaign to promote the HPV vaccine is under way. I welcome the take-up figures. They are slowly rising, with an 11% increase, as the Minister has said, to 62%, compared to 51% last year. The figures on HPV and Ireland are stark. Speaker after speaker has told us this. Some 300 women in Ireland will be diagnosed with cervical cancer this year, 90 of whom will die. These are enormously tragic occurrences for all the families involved. I urge all those concerned to consult the HSE website to ensure they get the facts that are grounded in medical truth. Misinformation must be tackled. The brave personal testimony by Laura Brennan, who has terminal cervical cancer, should be listened to by all who are concerned or worried about the vaccine. She is taking part in the HSE's campaign, as others have said. Her bravery should be acknowledged and her words listened to.

Our objective in putting this motion before the House is certainly not party-political.

There is no party-political advantage in this. That is because we really regard it as one of the major health issues of our time. If we can succeed in winning over the vast majority of the people to accepting this, we can put a lethal disease into the category of smallpox and largely eliminate it. We will not eliminate it entirely because we do not have a vaccine that is 100% effective yet, but we can reduce it in so many cases.

Earlier, I referenced the 2008 Nobel Prize. That same year, the scientists who discovered the link between HIV and AIDS were also awarded the Nobel Prize. As of yet, science has not been able to develop a vaccine for that dreaded disease and it remains a serious health challenge. We can hope that a both a cure and a vaccine can be found in the future as medicine and medical research advance, a lot of it now, thankfully, in our country. Where we can tackle disease and where there are vaccines we should do everything possible to promote them to eradicate disease and illness and ensure, as far as possible, our people are protected. This is why the Labour Party is calling for unanimous support for the HPV vaccination programme, and its extension to boys so the greatest possible number of our population can be protected against HPV.

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