Senator Lisa Chambers has called for the Laura Brennan HPV Catch-Up Vaccination Programme to be funded and extended to include all under-25s who missed it at school.
The Programme, launched in 2022, offered free HPV vaccines to all boys and girls in second-level education who were previously eligible to receive the vaccine in school and who had not yet received it.
It also offered vaccines to women up to the age of 25 who have left secondary school and did not previously receive the vaccine as well as all males up to their 22nd birthday.
Senator Chambers said: “Fianna Fáil launched the HPV Vaccine Catch-Up Programme in 2022, naming it after Laura Brennan in tribute to the memory and tireless efforts she made to encourage young people to take up this vaccine.
“Since then, it ran until December 2023, offering HPV vaccines free of charge to females who were 24 years of age or younger and males who were 21 years of age or younger.
“Approximately 11,000 people received HPV vaccination through the programme. It saved many lives and reduced the levels of HPV circulating in Ireland.
“Laura dedicated herself to promoting the HPV vaccine to ensure that as few families as possible would have to go through the rigours of cancer treatment and end-of-life care as she did.
“That is why I am calling for the programme to once again be funded and for it to be further extended to include all under-25 who missed it while at school.
“One of our stated goals is to eliminate cervical cancer in Ireland by 2040.
“By funding and extending the Programme in this way we will increase HPV vaccination and screening among our population, helping us to achieve this goal."
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