Minister for Health Simon Harris has criticised anti-HPV vaccine campaigners for spreading misconceptions about the Gardasil vaccine.
Harris was speaking at the launch of the Vaccines for Life event yesterday in Dublin, when he criticised groups that have spread claims that the vaccine causes long-term health issues. He said this ultimately increases public health risks.
“Unfounded, false claims have been made of an association between HPV vaccination and a number of conditions experienced by a group of young women. There is no scientific evidence that the HPV vaccine causes any long term illness.”
One such group that has urged parents to think twice about the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is R.E.G.R.E.T.
Their website says, “R.E.G.R.E.T. Support Group was set up by parents of Irish teenage girls who have developed serious health problems after entering secondary school. These parents are certain that the HPV vaccine (Gardasil) is the cause of their daughters' otherwise unexplained illness.
Harris expressed concern for the reduction in uptake for the vaccine, called Gardasil, given to girls in Irish secondary schools for free.
According to annual HSE reports, the number fell by more than 10 per cent from the 2014/2015 academic year to the 2015/2016 academic year. The national uptake of at least HPV stage 2 vaccines fell from 86.9 per cent to 73.2 the following year.
“This misinformation has led to a significant drop in uptake rates of the HPV vaccine. This means that a large cohort of girls are now at risk of developing cervical cancer later in their lives.”
“People need to be aware that a personal decision not to vaccinate has a wider public impact.”
The Minister outlined the consequences on general public health due to people declining vaccination.
“Such a decision may put their own life and that of their child at risk, and it may also put at risk other vulnerable individuals that they come into contact with – people with a reduced immunity such as sick and elderly vulnerable patients, pregnant women or small babies who have not yet completed all their vaccinations.”
He cited an outbreak of measles in Dublin as an example of this: “The scare surrounding the MMR vaccine in the 1990s resulted in a large reduction in uptake rates.”
Minister Harris urged parents that were anxious about vaccines to consult their GP or visit the National Immunisation office website.
