Minister for Health Mary Harney has been urged to reverse her decision to drop a vaccination programme in primary schools to protect young girls against a virus that causes cervical cancer.
The Minister announced on Tuesday she was reversing a decision to begin the vaccination programme from September 2009 on cost grounds. She told the Dáil today, however, that she hoped to introduce the scheme as soon as possible, perhaps in 2010.
Fine Gael health spokesman Dr James Reilly said Ms Harney should either reverse the decision or “consider her position”.
“It was unthinkable 30 years ago that we would have a vaccine that would prevent cancer and that marvellous breakthrough, and its implications for the lives and well-being of women today, makes it unthinkable and unconscionable that we would not use it,” he said.
Dr Reilly noted that the Public Accounts Committee heard earlier this year that €7.96 million was spent on consultancy services by the HSE, the bulk of which went to Accenture for providing support for the PPARS payroll project.
He said the expert assessment of the cervical cancer vaccination programme estimated a cost of just under €7 million after treatment-cost savings.
Labour Party health spokeswoman Jan O’Sullivan said today the decision to drop the plan was “a retrograde step, and will come as a massive disappointment to parents who are concerned for the health of their daughters”.
Ms O’Sullivan questioned the Minister’s cost estimate of €14 million per annum for the scheme, which she said was based on the assumption that there would be a take-up of 24,000 girls per annum, at a cost of €600 each.
“This is well wide of the mark. The cost of the three doses required for the vaccination is actually €345, which if a procurement process were to be put in place, could probably be driven down even further, bringing the annual cost down to somewhere in the region of €7 million, rather than €14 million,” she said.
Ms O’Sullivan said the decision “flies in the face” of the Minister’s statement when she announced the scheme in August.
At that time, Ms Harney said she accepted expert advice that the introduction of a such a vaccination programme, in conjunction with population-based cervical screening, could significantly reduce overall cervical cancer rates.
It emerged today, however, that the Health Service Executive (HSE) wanted to wait until 2010 to roll out the vaccination programme, to allow it enter discussions with schools and parents and to upgrade its technology.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny yesterday accused the Minister of "an act of despicable cynicism" by announcing the "scrapping" of the cervical vaccination programme on the day of the American presidential election.
The Irish Cancer Society also criticised the abandonment of the cervical cancer vaccine programme.
Ms Harney said today the question of her resignation over the issue "does not arise".