Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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473. To ask the Minister for Health his views on the fact that if he is concerned that some girls who received the HPV gardasil vaccine appear to have had serious side effects, and if he will have this matter examined. [21978/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Each year in Ireland around 300 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer. The HPV vaccine protects against two high risk types of HPV that cause 73% of all cervical cancers.

There is scientific evidence of the beneficial impact of HPV vaccine for women's health in countries that have had high vaccine uptake rates. Cases of high grade pre-cancerous changes of the cervix have reduced by 75% in Australia and by more than 50% in Denmark and Scotland.

The Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) is responsible for monitoring the safety and quality of all medicines that are licensed in Ireland. While no medicine is entirely without risk, the safety of vaccines, as with all medicines, is carefully monitored and any new evidence concerning side-effects is taken into account. The HPRA and the European Medicines Agency continually monitor adverse events to vaccination.

Unfounded, false claims have been made of an association between HPV vaccination and a number of conditions experienced by a group of young women. It appears that they first suffered symptoms around the time they received the HPV vaccine and a false connection is being made between the HPV vaccine and the onset of these symptoms. There is no scientific evidence that the HPV vaccine causes any long term illness. However, these claims led to a significant drop in uptake rates of the HPV vaccine from 87% in 2014/15 to 72% in 2015/16. This means that a large cohort of girls is now at risk of developing cervical cancer later in their lives.

Misinformation is causing real harm to those unvaccinated children and adults who develop vaccine preventable diseases, and to people who seek inappropriate treatments for real conditions that are not caused by vaccines. Any parent who has doubts or questions about vaccination should talk to their family doctor, or alternatively to visit the National Immunisation office website. These sources of information are clear and accurate and will answer any queries you may have about the benefits or risks of vaccination. Vaccination is the best way for parents to make sure their children are healthy and protected from preventable diseases.