Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving me an opportunity to raise this important issue on the Adjournment. I am here to support the call that has been made by a constituent of mine, Ms Michelle Fitzpatrick, for the immediate roll-out of the cervical cancer vaccine to young girls. Michelle has taken the brave decision to go public with her own diagnosis of cervical cancer to raise awareness of the disease and to call on the Government to reverse its decision not to proceed with the cervical cancer vaccination programme. Michelle, who is seriously ill with cervical cancer, has made a public plea for the introduction of a programme of vaccination of young girls, including her own daughters. If it is found that the cancer has spread, she will have a life expectancy of just two years. If she is lucky, radical surgery will save her life. Michelle does not want her daughters or any other young girl to go through the nightmare she is going through. Many people say that life begins at 40, but in Michelle's case, her nightmare began at 40. She is now 42 years of age and the mother of four young girls. Her fear is that if the Government does not proceed with a vaccination programme, her daughters will face the same suffering and trauma she is going through. She is pleading with the Government to offer this vaccine to all young Irish girls.

The Minister for Health and Children recently reiterated that she is not prepared to proceed with the cervical cancer vaccination programme at this point. She has chosen to focus on other competing priorities in the context of the current budgetary situation. It is staggering that 2,900 women in Ireland are living with cervical cancer. It is clear that the virus which causes this disease is on the increase in Ireland, as the mortality rate has increased by 1.5% each year since 1978. Some 200 women are diagnosed each year with cervical cancer, which is a preventable disease. The incidence of cervical cancer can be effectively reduced through a combination of the cervical cancer screening and vaccination programmes. Organised screening programmes can prevent up to 80% of cases of cervical cancer and the vaccine can prevent seven out of ten cases of cervical cancer. The tragic death of Ms Jade Goody, following a battle with cervical cancer, brought this issue to light for many young women. The disease, which claims approximately 90 lives per year in Ireland, needs to be highlighted and women need to be made more aware of the issues surrounding it.

Michelle Fitzpatrick is hoping her story will keep this issue in the public mind. On 5 August last year, the Minister for Health and Children said she intended to accept the advice of the expert group on the introduction of a universal high-uptake vaccination programme for young girls. The decision to withdraw the rollout of this vaccination programme puts 106,076 young girls between 11 and 15, the proposed target group, at risk of contracting this form of cancer. It includes 906 girls in County Leitrim and 1,944 in County Roscommon. This decision was taken to save funds the equivalent of one eighth of the cost of purchasing the electronic voting machines which are rusting away in a field in County Meath. The Government is persisting with the decision while spending 6,700 times the amount required for the vaccination programme to bail out the banks of this country.

This is a short-sighted action that risks women's health and penalises parents such as Michelle Fitzpatrick, who cannot afford to give her daughters the vaccine required to prevent them from contracting cervical cancer in the future. I urge the Minister of State to accept the call being made by Michelle Fitzpatrick and other women suffering from cervical cancer and roll out the vaccination programme.

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it provides me with an opportunity to outline to this House the importance attached by the Department of Health and Children and the Health Service Executive to the issue raised.

The renewed programme for Government states the Government will take further progressive steps building universal health services that provide high-quality health care, fair access and affordability for all, with a focus on several key areas. The first area mentioned is the implementation of the cancer control strategy. Within this, the Government makes a commitment to "expand cancer prevention measures such as colorectal screening and cervical vaccination programmes at the earliest opportunity, in accordance with clinical priorities". The issue is not, therefore, whether the case for a cervical cancer vaccination programme is accepted by the Government, because it is, but how to place such a programme in order of clinical priorities for the allocation of scarce resources available for public health services and for the cancer programme in particular.

The Minister has stated elsewhere that, in respect of cancer prevention and screening measures, she believes the next highest priority now is for a population-based colorectal screening service to be put in place for men and women, subject to a cost-effective method being designed. This is because of the high incidence of colorectal cancer in Ireland, with approximately 2,200 new cases diagnosed every year. There are approximately 950 deaths each year with colorectal cancer as the major cause.

On cervical cancer, all the clinical advice available to the Minister indicates that, in the context of the limited resources available, the national roll-out of a cervical screening programme should take precedence over the introduction of a HPV vaccination programme. Population-based cervical cancer screening carries both immediate and long-term benefits. It carries the significant advantage of delivering earlier benefits than a vaccination programme.

The national cervical screening programme is now well under way. The programme, CervicalCheck, is being successfully implemented at a full-year cost of €43 million. Since its introduction just over a year ago, approximately 250,000 women have been screened. Some 70 to 100 women present with cervical cancer each year. The national screening programme for women aged between 25 and 60 years of age has the capacity to eliminate the incidence of cervical cancer by 80% to 90%.

The highest priority must be attached to implementing and sustaining the national cervical screening programme, even in circumstances where a vaccination programme is added. The Minister is keeping the cost of implementing such a programme under review so that, in accordance with the renewed programme for Government, it may be introduced at the earliest possible opportunity in accordance with clinical priorities.