Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for bringing this matter to the floor of the Seanad. I apologise on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, who cannot be here. I too acknowledge the good work that the Brennan family are doing in their advocacy and highlighting the positivities of this vaccination.In 2009, the national immunisation advisory committee, NIAC, recommended HPV vaccination for girls of 12 and 13 to reduce their risk of developing cervical cancer as adults. In September 2010, the HPV vaccination programme was introduced for all girls in the first year of secondary school. In 2013, NIAC recommended that the HPV vaccine should also be given to boys. On foot of NIAC's recommendation, the Department of Health asked HIQA to undertake a health technology assessment to establish the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of extending the current immunisation programme to include boys in the first year of secondary school. A policy decision was made to extend the HPV immunisation programme to include boys, starting in September 2019, with the introduction of a 9-valent HPV vaccine.

The ages at which vaccines are recommended in the immunisation schedule are chosen by NIAC to give each child the best possible protection against vaccine-preventable diseases. As the HPV vaccine is preventative, it is intended to be administered, if possible, before a person becomes sexually active, that is, before a person is first exposed to HPV infection. Therefore, the gender-neutral HPV vaccination programme targets all girls and boys in the first year of secondary school to provide maximum coverage.

The roll-out of the school-based immunisation programme, which includes HPV vaccination, is the responsibility of the HSE. It is important to note that the school-based immunisation programme for the 2019-20 academic year has been completed and that the uptake rates in respect of the HPV vaccine for that academic year were 82% for the first dose and 77% for the second. This is the highest rate of uptake under the HPV vaccination programme since 2015-16, and it is particularly encouraging because it was the first year that boys were included in the programme. It shows that the provision of the vaccine in the community clinics did not adversely affect uptake.

The programme for the academic year 2020-21 was paused during the first few months of 2021 due to school closures and the redeployment of staff of the Covid-19 immunisation programme. The inputting of uptake information for the school-based programme has also been delayed due to the redeployment of administrative staff. However, community healthcare organisations have reported that the vast majority of second level schools had their first dose of the HPV vaccine delivered between October 2020 and December 2020. The uptake rate for the first dose of the HPV vaccine in the 2020-21 academic year is 63%, and this figure is expected to increase because data input on the vaccine uptake is ongoing. Plans are now being developed by the HSE for the recommencement of the vaccination programmes, including the second dose of the HPV vaccine. Some areas have already recommenced these programmes and are in the process of arranging school visits.

I thank Senator Conway for raising this matter today. I assure him that, on foot of his recommendations, I will relay the suggestions he has made on the floor of the Seanad to the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly. In talking about capacity in our Covid-19 vaccination centres, we should note that while the Covid vaccine roll-out is going well, capacity issues are not just sorted yet. Obviously, the priority is to use those centres for what they were designed. I undertake to relay to the Minister the suggestions made today.