AN ONLINE campaign calling on Minister for Health Mary Harney to reinstate the cervical cancer vaccination programme has attracted more than 10,000 members.
On the social networking site Facebook 10,276 people signed up to the group entitled "Harney must reinstate cervical cancer vaccine", as of last night. The group was established two weeks ago.
Last month, the Government abandoned its plan to have all 12-year-old girls vaccinated against a virus that causes cervical cancer. The human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination would have cost an estimated €9.7 million annually. Between 70 and 80 women with cervical cancer die in Ireland each year and some 200 new cases are diagnosed annually.
The online group has organised simultaneous vigils in Dublin and Cork for Wednesday at 6.30pm. The Dublin event will take place outside Leinster House on Kildare Street. The location for the Cork protest is Daunt Square.
The group was set up by Shauneen Armstrong. She is a Labour Party press officer, but said she organised the campaign in a personal capacity.
A spokesman for the Minister said she still supported the introduction of the vaccine. The Minister had accepted advice from experts that money must now be spent on developing the screening programme. "Even those women who get the vaccine have to be screened as well because the vaccine only covers about 70 per cent of the threat from cervical cancer," he said.
Meanwhile, an expert on cervical cancer said yesterday he was disappointed by Ms Harney's decision. Professor John O'Leary, the head of the research laboratory at the Coombe Hospital, said vaccination was a more effective way of dealing with cervical cancer than a screening programme.
Professor O'Leary, who is Professor of Pathology at Trinity College and has carried out research into the causes of cervical cancer, said the minister had made the "correct call" in originally advocating a vaccination programme.
"Cervical cancer is ultimately a preventable disease between the combination of a prophylactic vaccination for young girls and also through cervical screening. You cant replace one with the other. Prophylaxis is always better than screening."