A new HPV vaccination programme and information campaign has been launched by the HSE.

HPV (human papillomavirus) is the main cause of cervical cancer. Each year in Ireland, around 90 women die from this disease and over 280 require treatment for it, such as surgery and chemotherapy.

There are many types of HPV, most of which are harmless. However some strains can be serious, such as those that cause cervical cancer. Most risk is attributable to HPV types 16 and 18, however, these are included in the vaccine that is offered to all girls attending their first year of secondary school.

This national HPV vaccination programme has been in place since 2010, however over the last two years, uptake rates have fallen from 90% to 50%, although provisional data suggests that these figures have begun to stabilise this year.

According to the HSE's national director of health and wellbeing, Dr Stephanie O'Keeffe, the reduction in uptake is largely due to ‘many conflicting and misleading sources of information out there'.

These include claims by the support group, REGRET, who believe their daughters have developed serious health problems as a result of receiving the vaccine.

"The only Irish website containing information that has been formally accredited by the World Health Organization is hpv.ie. We strongly urge all parents, teenagers, and interested parties to visit this trusted source where they will learn about the vaccine, how it saves lives and its excellent safety record. Their local vaccination teams are also there to support them and answer any questions, along with their local GPs and local pharmacists," Dr O'Keeffe commented.

According to consultant paediatrician and chairperson of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee, Prof Karina Butler, over 230,000 girls in Ireland have ‘safely received the HPV vaccine', along with 227 million people worldwide.

"Not one of these people anywhere in the world has been medically proven to have had a long-term side effect from getting the vaccine. This is a vaccine that can save lives. In Scotland, where their vaccination programme has been in place since 2008, they have seen a 90% decrease in HPV infections. In Australia, the vaccine has prevented one in every two new cervical cancers," Prof Butler said.

Along with its annual vaccination programme, the HSE is also launching an information campaign, #ProtectOurFuture, which aims to inform and support parents whose daughters are due the vaccine.

Over 40,000 information packs will be delivered nationwide this week in advance of the HSE vaccination teams starting their scheduled post-primary school visits in September, when first-year girls will get the first of two doses of the vaccine.

The campaign includes three weeks of radio ads and social media promotions, including the launch of new videos online, which features girls who have been vaccinated and mothers whose daughters have had the vaccine.

Commenting on the campaign, consultant gynaecologist and clinical director of CervicalCheck, Prof Grainne Flannelly, said that the evidence for the vaccine ‘is compelling'.

"As a consultant gynaecologist, I see all too frequently the impact of HPV infections and the reality of cervical cancer. We have a very real possibility now of eliminating cervical cancer in future generations of Irish women. But to achieve that we need urgently to address our uptake rates and restore them to provide protection," she insisted.

For more information on HPV and the vaccine, click here