State defends use of cervical cancer jab

The Department of Health has defended its use of the HPV vaccination programme for young girls after parents told an Oireachtas Committee of “the emotional strain of watching their child struggle to get out of bed to face another day of pain” from alleged side-effects.

The Oireachtas Health Committee heard from representatives of Regret (Reactions and Effects of Gardasil Resulting in Extreme Trauma), who said they represented families of 130 girls suffering a catalogue of illness, including chronic fatigue and headaches, as an alleged reaction to taking the vaccine.

The vaccination programme began in 2010 and the committee heard that 170,000 children have since received it — primarily as Gardasil — as part of the effort to limit the chances of women developing cervical cancer later in life.