School Programme 2017/2018
The Schools Immunisation Programme (SIP) is developed in accordance with the guidance issued by the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI) and contained in the Immunisation Guidelines for Ireland.
In Ireland, all the recommended childhood vaccines given in the schools immunisation programme are free.
HPV Programme
The programme aims to vaccinate on an annual basis all 12 to 13 year old girls with HPV by targeting girls in first year in second level schools and age equivalent (for 2017/2018 academic year girls born between 01/09/2005 and 31/08/2006) in special schools and home schooled students.
Information materials for parents are available in the HPV school section
HPV Vaccine safety and Effectiveness
Since HPV vaccine was licensed in 2006 research has been conducted all over the world that demonstrates that the vaccine is safe and prevents cancer. The evidence has been steadily growing since 2006 and now an enormous bank of research exists which proves the safety and effectiveness of this vaccine. This heat map shows the countries which have conducted most research on HPV vaccine however, studies have been conducted worldwide which confirm that HPV vaccination is the right way to protect girls from cervical cancer.
Click here to read more about the research.
To read more about HPV please visit the following pages
The HPV Programme for 2017/2018 was launched on Wednesday 30th August 2017. The presentations from the day are available below
An audit of HPV information materials from 7 countries was recently carried out. The results are available to download here.
The following information materials are available for healthcare professionals carrying out this programme.
Please note you will be leaving www.immunisation.ie when you click the SPC and PIL links
More Information about HPV can be found at the following websites:
Gardasil safety reports
- EMA .HPV vaccines: EMA confirms evidence does not support that they cause CRPS or POTS EMA/788882/2015 12 January 2016, available at http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/Referrals_document/HPV_vaccines_20/European_Commission_final_decision/WC500196773.pdf
- WHO Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine safety Statement on Safety of HPV vaccines 17/12/2015 available at http://www.who.int/vaccine_safety/committee/GACVS_HPV_statement_17Dec2015.pdf?ua=1
- Post-licensure data for Gardasil distributed in the United States from 2006 to end of 2008 was published in JAMA2009. Slade BA, Leidel L, Vellozzi C, Woo EJ, Hua W, Sutherland A, Izurieta HS, Ball R, Miller N, Braun MM, Markowitz LE, Iskander J. Postlicensure safety surveillance for quadrivalent human papillomavirus recombinant vaccine. JAMA. 2009 Aug 19;302(7):750-7 (available at http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/302/7/750)
- The Irish Medicines Board published a report on the first year of the HPV vaccination programme in Ireland. Overview of national monitoring experience with Gardasil. 19 July 2011. (available at http://www.hpra.ie/docs/default-source/Safety-Notices/imb_gardasil_webupdate_19jul2011.pdf)
- World Health Organization, Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety. Update on human papillomavirus vaccines. Weekly Epidemiological Record 2013 29 309-312. (available at http://www.who.int/wer/2013/wer8829.pdf)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Coverage Among Adolescent Girls, 2007-2013, and Postlicensure Vaccine Safety Monitoring, 2006-2014 -- United States. MMWR 2014; 63 (29) 620-624 available at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/wk/mm6329.pdf
- Arnheim-Dahlström L, Pasternak B, Svanström H, Sparén P and Hviid A. Autoimmune, neurological, and venous thromboembolic adverse events after immunisation of adolescent girls with quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine in Denmark and Sweden: cohort study. BMJ 2013;347:f5906 (available at http://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f5906)
- An Overview of Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Safety 2006 to 2015 Vichin M, Bonanni P, Klein N, Garland S, Block S, Kjaer S Sings H, Perez G, Haupt R, Saah A, Lievano F, Velicer C, Drury R and Kuter B An Overview of Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Safety 2006 to 2015. PIDJ 2015; 34(9) 983 -1007 available at http://journals.lww.com/pidj/Fulltext/2015/09000/An_Overview_of_Quadrivalent_Human_Papillomavirus.17.asp
- Prof Margaret Stanleys presentation titled HPV VLP Vaccine Development and Impact. Prof Stanley spoke to an audience on the 31st August 2010.
In January 2017 all 69 US National Cancer Institute NCI-designated Cancer Centers Endorsed HPV Vaccination
“As national leaders in cancer research and clinical care, we are compelled to collectively call upon parents and health care providers to increase vaccination rates so our nation’s children don’t grow up to become cancer patients.
HPV vaccines, like all vaccines (used in the U.S.), have passed extensive safety testing before and after being approved.
The vaccines have a safety profile similar to that of other vaccines approved for adolescents in the U.S.
Internationally, the safety of HPV vaccines has been tested and approved by the World Health Organization’s Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety”.
See information at https://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/news/images/pdf/HPVConsensusStatement_Jan2017.pdf
This page was updated on 8 February 2018
