The Mayo News

A FATHER whose wife died from cervical cancer two years ago has claimed that the decision to abandon the vaccination programme for 12-year-old girls is ‘immoral’. Widower condemns cancer vaccination u-turn


Anton McNulty

A FATHER whose wife died from cervical cancer two years ago has claimed that the decision to abandon the vaccination programme for 12-year-old girls is immoral and is putting women at risk for a ‘measly’ €600.
Last week, the Minister for Health Mary Harney TD announced that she was abandoning a plan to have all 12-year-old girls vaccinated against a virus that causes cervical cancer, citing ‘very scarce’ health resources, despite announcing her plans in August. The vaccination against strains of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) would have cost an estimated €9.7 million annually – or €600 a head.
Steve Granville (57) from Midfield near Swinford lost his wife Mary when she was only 45 years of age before Christmas 2006 through cervical cancer. He told The Mayo News that Minister Harney’s decision made no sense financially and asked if the Government valued  women’s lives at €600. He said the cost to the State of treating a woman with cervical cancer would run into hundreds of thousands of euro, and a simple vaccination programme would save the State more than it spends.
“A lot of people are affected by this and when the Minister announced this plan last August I thought it was fantastic news, but this news was really disappointing. HPV is a virus and for the vaccination to truly be effective there has to be a 95 per cent vaccination coverage. The Minister is hiding behind the argument that if she pays for this she will have to take away from something else. There is no point robbing Peter to pay Paul and if you can’t get €9.6 million for something as important as this, it is a poor state of affairs.
“I am living on a widower’s pension but I will find the money to pay for this for my eleven-year-old, even though it will not be effective until everyone gets the vaccination. During a recession it is the poor who are left struggling to pay the bills and a lot of people don’t have €600 to spend, even on the health of their children,” he said.
Last week, Steve contacted the Ray Darcy Show on Today FM to express his disgust at the decision and to protect the life of his eleven-year-old daughter, Gráinne, and other girls her age. His story on the radio caused such a public outcry against Minister Harney’s decision that her office received 20,000 e-mails calling for her to reverse her decision.
However, Steve said he has not received any acknowledgement from the Department of Health but vowed not to stay silent on the issue. He said he saw the cancer destroy his wife’s body during her 13-month battle with the disease and did not want other women and families to suffer the same fate

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