Written answers
Tuesday, 26 January 2010
Department of Health and Children
Vaccination Programme
8:00 pm
Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 249: To ask the Minister for Health and Children her plans, in view of the recent unexpected reversal of Government policy, to compensate parents who paid for their daughters' cervical cancer vaccine in the period between the cancellation of the scheme and its reinstatement in January 2010; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3958/10]
Chris Andrews (Dublin South East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 302: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if, further to the recently announced decision to proceed with cervical vaccinations for girls in first and second year in school, she will provide a refund for parents who paid for the cost of this vaccination to be carried out privately following the announcement in 2008 that same was not going to proceed and whose daughters would now be eligible for this vaccine, and who would have waited for this vaccine had they known that the scheme would be introduced. [3543/10]
Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 337: To ask the Minister for Health and Children, further to the cervical vaccine programme, which is available to students attending first year post-primary, the cost to parents for girls in second year onwards; if it is correct that this will cost â¬150 per student; if it will be possible to have a similar tendering process initiated to help reduce the price of this vaccine in order that parents would be in a position to defray that element of cost; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3817/10]
Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 249, 302 and 337 together.
I have always accepted the consensus view of the relevant expert bodies that the introduction of a universal high uptake vaccination programme in young girls, in conjunction with population based cervical screening, could significantly reduce overall cervical cancer incidence. The issue was not, therefore, whether the case for a cervical cancer vaccination programme was accepted by myself and the Government â because it always was â 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. Recently I requested the HSE to initiate a tendering process for the procurement of a HPV vaccine with a view to commencing a HPV vaccination programme for all girls in first year in secondary school and until this process was completed I was not in a position to say if or when I would introduce this programme. This tendering process for the vaccine is now complete. We can now purchase the vaccine at a price much lower than we expected to pay in 2008 and at a price much closer to what is being paid in other countries. In these circumstances, the programme can now be delivered from the extra resources committed in this year's budget to the overall Cancer Programme. The HSE is committed to starting this campaign during the current school year. This will involve the free vaccination of up to 30,000 girls mainly in school settings and an announcement of the details of the full programme involved will be made by the HSE in the near future. The programme will continue with vaccine being offered to all girls in first year in secondary school each year but it is not proposed to extend the vaccination programme to other classes at present.
Unfortunately it will not be possible to refund the costs of vaccinations administered privately.
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