Simon Harris promises 'definite plan' for Laura Brennan HPV catch-up scheme within weeks

Laura Brennan died from cervical cancer at the age of 26.

The Laura Brennan catch-up vaccination programme will go ahead regardless of "anybody in the civil service who thinks they know better", the Tánaiste has said.

Simon Haris has promised to provide a "definitive plan" on the roll-out of the HPV catch-up programme within the next three weeks, after the issue was raised in the Dáil.

Mr Harris has also implored all TDs to push back against what he described as vaccine "misinformation" and called on them to publicly pledge their support for the HPV programme.

Campaigners have raised concerns around a backslide in uptake of the vaccine, which can prevent a number of cancers, including cervical and throat cancer, and are urging the coalition to restart what was previously a highly successful catch-up programme.

Vaccination rates have been dropping since 2019, and about 16,000 young people now do not get it each year, according to the latest available data.

Under questioning from Green Party leader Roderic O'Gorman, Mr Harris said a Government commitment to extend the Laura Brennan HPV catch-up vaccination programme to anyone under 25 who missed the original vaccination would be implemented.

We put it in the programme for government and it is going ahead. If there's anybody in some part of the civil service who thinks they know better, can I assure them that we intend to deliver on the programme for government commitment, I passionately believe in this.

"I give that commitment, I think within three weeks, let's come back with a definitive plan in relation to that."

Mr Harris added: "While I'm on my feet, can I also suggest that as this relatively new Dáil commences, that every member of this house would publicly commit to supporting the vaccination programme. There's no room for pseudoscience. 

"I want to know if every single elected representative in every single political party is committed to supporting the HPV vaccine for young boys and young girls, a vaccine that can help eradicate effectively a form of cancer in this country.

"What an incredible thing to say we have within our grasp, over a number of years, an ability to effectively eradicate a cancer, a cancer that disproportionately affects young people, most particularly young women, but not just women. We have an opportunity here, through vaccination and other means, to effectively eradicate it."

Mr O'Gorman said he had raised the issue with the Taoiseach last month and had made numerous queries with the Department of Health, but had not got clarity on it the timing of a catch-up rollout.

"There does come a stage when you feel that somebody is deliberately not answering the question because they know that the answer isn't going to be popular. The Irish Cancer Society has also raised the status of the catch-up scheme with officials. It was suggested to them that a broad catch-up campaign could undermine the initial take-up of the vaccine by school children, and that there were some international studies to back this point up," Mr O'Gorman said.

However, he welcomed the clarification from the Tánaiste.

"We know the risks from the HPV virus, the risks that can materialise years, even decades, after the initial infection, cervical cancer, oropharyngeal cancer, penile cancer, vaginal cancer, life threatening, life-altering illnesses."