Vaccination U-turn - Callous and unrealistic

The announcement by Health Minister Mary Harney that the Health Service Executive is backing out of the planned pre-emptive vaccination programme for 12-year-old girls against the virus that causes cervical cancer has provoked a predictable storm.

If anybody thought that the announcement would go unnoticed in the midst of the coverage of the historical events in the United States, they were sorely mistaken.

The attempt to slip in such an announcement on a busy news day was particularly offensive, because it supposed that parents would not notice something of such importance to the health of their children. That was a crass insult to Irish parents.

In relative terms the €10 million being saved by delaying the programme is insignificant in comparison with the millions being wasted on administration.

Parents are being put in the position of having to find the necessary €600 to get the vaccination. It would seem that the minister has learned little from the recent medical card fiasco.

Telling parents that they must put their children at risk so that the squandering of the HSE administrators can be facilitated is callous and unrealistic.