Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Immunisation is regarded as one of the safest and most cost-effective of all health care interventions and one of the most effective ways a parent can protect the health of their child. In recent years, the spread of inaccurate information on social media concerning the safety and effectiveness of the HPV vaccine has had an impact on uptake rates. Misinformation has led to a significant drop in uptake rates of the HPV vaccine from 87% in 2014/15; 72% in 2015/16 to 51% in 2016/17.

One of the most important things that can be done is to provide accurate and credible information to enable parents to make a fully informed decision concerning HPV vaccination. The HSE National Immunisation Office has developed a comprehensive range of materials for parents, schools and medical practitioners as part of the immunisation programme.

Each year, at the start of the school term, the HSE runs an awareness campaign for parents to help them access trusted sources of information to encourage them to get their daughters vaccinated with the HPV vaccine. The HPV vaccine information campaign recommends that parents access trusted sources of information such as the HPV website (hpv.ie) which has been endorsed by the World Health Organization. The information campaign is supported by social and digital media activity as well as local and national radio advertisements. I personally spoke at the launch of the 2017 and 2018 HPV vaccine information campaigns and am fully supportive of the valuable work undertaken by the HSE. From time to time, other HPV campaigns are organised by the HSE using social media (for example, the 2016/17 campaign 'Armed for Life' and 2017/18 campaign 'Protect our Future', both of which were promoted on YouTube).

Figures provided by the HSE indicate that HPV vaccine uptake rates increased in 2017/18 to 65%. This increase is mainly due to a comprehensive communications campaign for parents with support from a large number of key stakeholders, e.g. the HPV alliance which currently has 37 organisations working together (such as the Irish Cancer Society and the Marie Keating Foundation).

While this increase is very welcome, we must continue to work together to get back to where we were once before. As recently as the 2014/15 academic year the uptake rate for HPV was at 87%. The HSE vaccination programme for 2018/19 started in September 2018.

The Government fully supports the HPV immunisation programme and recognises its benefits. We must continue to focus on increasing uptake rates as the best way of reducing cervical cancer. I encourage the parents of all eligible girls to ensure that their daughters receive this important life-saving vaccine.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Health Service Executive is committed to providing accurate information for parents about diseases, the vaccines to prevent them and potential side effects to allow them to choose whether or not to give consent to vaccination.

The HSE's National Immunisation Office has developed a comprehensive range of materials for parents, schools and medical practitioners as part of the immunisation programme. All the information provided to parents about vaccination takes account of the available licensed documentation for each vaccine, the Summary of Product Characteristics and Patient Information Leaflet.

The information is presented in clear and simple language which has been approved by the National Adult Literacy Agency, ensuring that it can be understood by all adults. The Health Information and Quality Authority guide ‘Communicating in plain English’ (2015), developed in partnership with NALA, states that “one in six people find reading and understanding everyday texts difficult: for example, reading a health leaflet, bus timetable or medicine instructions”. Therefore, like other countries providing school immunisation programmes, the Patient Information Leaflet was replaced by an information leaflet which provides the same information on the potential side effects of the vaccine in a manner that ensures that it is easily understood.

Prior to all school immunisation, parents receive an information pack in a sealed package with an information leaflet, consent form and cover letter. The information packs for all immunisations are standardised nationally. The information booklets include information on all the known potential side effects that can occur after each vaccination (as was the case with the HPV vaccine, Gardasil). Parents are also given contact details for their local immunisation office and advised to speak to a member of the school immunisation team if they have any further questions.

It is not the case that parents are being denied the information on the Patient Information Leaflet. In fact, the HSE parent information leaflet refers parents to the website hpv.ie where links to additional information including the licensing documentation, the Summary of Products Characteristics and the Patient Information Leaflet for each vaccine can be found. The HPV website has been endorsed by the World Health Organisation.