Minister for Health Simon Harris has launched the ‘vaccine alliance’ aimed at boosting the uptake of childhood vaccines and reducing vaccine hesitancy.
The alliance will include healthcare professionals, policy makers, patient advocates, students, and representatives from groups most affected by vaccine hesitancy.
The Minister said: “The immense suffering that today’s vaccine preventable diseases caused to children, families and societies 50 years ago should act as a constant reminder that we need to keep promoting and investing in our vaccination programme.
“Vaccination rates across the country are falling and diseases we had consigned to the history books are now making a comeback. We cannot afford to do nothing. We cannot allow the success of our childhood immunisation programme become its enemy.
“This alliance will build on the success we have had with the HPV vaccine where rates increased from 51 per cent to 70 per cent in a short period of time and it will ensure parents have accurate, evidence-based information about vaccinations.”
A steering group to guide the work of the vaccine alliance has already met and includes a wide range of organisations including Barnardos, Unicef Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland, Pavee Point, and the Union of Students of Ireland, as well as parents, doctors, nurses, midwives and pharmacists. Further organisations will be added once the vision, values and aims of the Alliance have been agreed.
The Department of Health conducted research on vaccination to help inform the work of the alliance.
The research showed that the overwhelming majority of research participants believed that vaccinating their child was extremely important.
Although some parents have genuine concerns about the use of vaccinations, healthcare professionals were the most trusted source of information.
Also, the research found vulnerable groups had specific issues that need to be addressed.
The Minister of State with responsibility for Health Promotion, Catherine Byrne, also spoke at the launch and welcomed the establishment of the alliance, saying;”Increasing the uptake of vaccines is key to protecting the public from threats to their health and wellbeing. This is central to the vision of Healthy Ireland where our primary focus is on prevention.
“Immunisation is a hugely important part of this work because vaccines prevent the spread of infectious disease. It is also vital that parents and families get the facts and hear the message that vaccines work and save lives.
We must also be particularly sensitive and responsive to the specific needs of vulnerable groups, and work to deliver vaccination programmes in ways that are sensitive to their lifestyles, taking into account issues such as homelessness, literacy and language difficulties”.
Dr Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer said that the new alliance will strengthen engagement across communities on vaccination and will build on the relationships that doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals already have as the most trusted source of vaccine-related information for parents and their children.
Minister Harris also announced that the RCPI has agreed to rename its Medal for Patient Advocacy, the ‘Laura Brennan Advocacy Medal’, in recognition of the late advocate’s work in increasing the HPV vaccine uptake. Ms Brennan’s parents attended the launch of the Vaccine Alliance.
The Alliance will be open to organisations and individuals that support its principles and its membership will be finalised between now and December.
In addition to the Alliance, the Minister is to meet with social media companies to discuss their efforts in combatting vaccine misinformation.
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