Dáil debates

Wednesday, 19 December 2007

Adjournment Debate

Vaccination Programme.

3:00 pm

Photo of Chris AndrewsChris Andrews (Dublin South East, Fianna Fail)
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I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak on this issue, which affects parents, grandparents and anybody connected with children. Everybody is concerned about the eradication of the invasive pneumococcal disease, a life threatening disease that can cause pneumonia, septicemia and pneumococcal meningitis. A significant number of countries throughout the world, including the United States and the United Kingdom, already include this vaccine in their vaccination programmes. Northern Ireland has made the vaccine available for some time, so it would be sensible to introduce the vaccine on an all-Ireland basis. Canada, Mexico, Australia and Costa Rica as well as 11 other European countries routinely vaccinate children against this nasty and terrible disease.

Pneumococcal meningitis is the second most common type of meningitis in Ireland. It is the only preventable form of the disease that we do not routinely vaccinate against. Infants from birth to 24 months, children with weakened immune systems and children who attend day care are especially at risk of developing invasive pneumococcal disease. In April, the Minister for Health and Children, speaking at a health conference, announced that the national immunisation schedule was to be expanded to include routine immunisation of children against this disease and hepatitis B. It was due to be in place by last September but that has not happened. When will it be introduced and what Minister of State will be responsible for rolling it out?

At the same conference, Dr. Kevin Connolly, a member of the national immunisation advisory committee, NIAC, which recommended the addition of the pneumococcal and hepatitis B vaccine to the Government, said he expected the new vaccines to be introduced last September. This was welcomed by the people who had campaigned for the introduction of the vaccine. However, it has not happened. The Health Service Executive has been directed by the Department of Health and Children to introduce the vaccines next year and in the budget a sum of €18 million was set aside for it. However, there is no date for its introduction and nobody has been given responsibility for it. If somebody has been given that responsibility, we have not been informed who it is.

The evidence available on the benefits of universal pneumococcal vaccination to population health and to the health services is overwhelming. The latest research published in The Lancet in April 2007 showed that in the United States hospital admission rates for children under the age of two fell by 39%. Will the Minister announce the date when routine immunisation against invasive pneumococcal disease will commence? Who will be responsible for its introduction? It is important for parents such as Karen Jordan and Angela Bligh, whose lives have been considerably worsened as a result of this meningitis, that the HSE prioritises the introduction of the pneumococcal vaccination as a matter of urgency.

Photo of Máire HoctorMáire Hoctor (Tipperary North, Fianna Fail)
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I am responding on behalf of my colleague, Deputy Mary Harney, Minister for Health and Children. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it provides me with an opportunity to outline to the House the importance attached by the Department of Health and Children and the Health Service Executive to the issue raised.

The Minister for Health and Children has been informed by the Health Service Executive that this vaccine will be introduced into the immunisation programme in September 2008. Ireland's recommended immunisation programme is based on the guidelines of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. The guidelines are prepared with the assistance of an active committee from associated disciplines in paediatrics, infectious diseases, general practice and public health. The current schedule contains immunisations against the following ten infectious diseases: tuberculosis, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, haemophilus influenzae B, Hib, disease, meningococcal C disease, measles, mumps and rubella.

The NIAC has completed a review of our immunisation schedule and the Department has received the updated guidelines. These new guidelines include a number of changes, including the addition of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, PCV, to the schedule. PCV provides a high level of protection to young children against pneumococcal infections. I thank the NIAC for the time and effort that went into its deliberations on this important piece of public health work.

Immunisation is a simple, safe and effective way to protect children against certain diseases. Immunisation against infectious disease has saved more lives than any other public health intervention apart from providing clean water. In order to eliminate these infectious diseases entirely, uptake of immunisations of 95% or greater is required. When immunisation uptake rates are below 95%, outbreaks of infectious disease will continue to occur and some children will suffer complications or die as a result. Although immunisation uptake rates in this country have not yet reached the target of 95%, they continue to improve. The national uptake rate for children aged 24 months now stands at more than 90% for most vaccinations and the Department will continue to work with the HSE to achieve a 95% uptake rate.

The social benefits for the community in general of achieving an uptake level of 95%, thereby providing population immunity, cannot be emphasised enough. We owe it to the more vulnerable members of our community to protect them as best we can and we must encourage parents to immunise their children. I urge all parents to have their children immunised against the diseases covered by the childhood immunisation programme to ensure that both their children and the population generally have maximum protection against the diseases concerned.