The Minister for Health has announced plans for a HPV vaccine catch-up programme.

It will include girls and boys in secondary school who were eligible to receive the vaccine in 1^st year, but who did not receive it. It will also include women up to the age of 25 who have left secondary school and who did not receive the vaccine when eligible.

Last October, the Department of Health had requested the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) to examine the clinical effectiveness and population-wide benefit of extending the vaccine to these two groups.

Following this examination, NIAC updated its advice in relation to the HPV vaccine.

“Based on NIAC’s updated advice, I have asked the HSE to prepare to operationalise a programme that would provide for all girls and boys in secondary schools who were previously eligible to receive the HPV vaccine and who have not yet, for whatever reason, received it, to now be offered the vaccine.

“I have also asked the HSE to provide options on how best to introduce a catch-up programme for young women who have now left secondary school and who did not receive the vaccine when they were eligible,” explained Minister Stephen Donnelly.

He described the HPV vaccine as “incredibly effective” and paid tribute to patient advocate, Laura Brennan, and her family. Laura from Clare was just 24 when she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. At the age of 25, she was told her cancer was terminal and from then until her death at the age of 26, she worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the importance of the HPV vaccine.

She died in March 2019.

HPV (human apaillomavirus) causes one in 20 cancers worldwide and is one of the leading causes of cervical cancer. It also causes other types of cancer, including vaginal, anal and penile cancer, as well as most cases of genital warts. For more information, click here.