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THE HEALTH INFORMATION and Quality Authority (HIQA) is considering the addition of the chickenpox vaccine to the childhood immunisation schedule.
HIQA is to publish an assessment of such a move on the request of the Department of Health, supported by the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC).
It will examine the clinical effectiveness, cost effectiveness, budget impact, ethical and social aspects of expanding the childhood vaccination schedule to include the chickenpox vaccine.
The vaccine inoculates against the varicella-zoster virus, which causes chickenpox and shingles. Chickenpox is a common infectious disease which mainly affects children.
Shingles typically occurs later in life due to reactivation of the virus.
One case of chickenpox can potentially infect 10 to 12 people.
Dr Conor Teljeur, HIQA’s Chief Scientist, said in a press statement: “A vaccine for chickenpox was first developed almost 50 years ago. Over the last 30 years, a growing number of countries around the world have added the chickenpox vaccine to their routine childhood immunisation schedules.
“In Ireland, the vaccine is currently recommended for non-immune individuals in certain risk groups. Our assessment will examine the impact of adding the vaccine to the childhood immunisation schedule.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) has advised that routine chickenpox immunisation for children should be considered in countries where chickenpox is an important public health burden and there are sufficient resources to vaccinate at least 80% of the population on an ongoing basis.
Within the EU, the annual incidence of chickenpox is typically equivalent to the birth cohort. The total number of births in Ireland annually is approximately 56,000.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has also recommended introducing childhood immunisation for chickenpox, but only after countries have conducted their own assessments.
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Where are the pro-life brigade? Why don’t they stand at airports with signs and images of rape to protect the victims of sex trafficking? Wouldn’t that be a better use of their energy and time?
@Donnachaín Ní Uallacháin: most of them were a victim already in their own countries and by the way would any of them able to read the signs?
Does the fact that more trafficked people are being identified not mean the system is getting better at finding them?? Or am I missing something?
@Lurfic: no it means that the government pathetic way to stop trafficking by punishing the buyer clearly isn’t working and is driving it further underground making it more dangerous for those involved.
@Nucky: So Nucky is saying we should punish the trafficked.
@Lurfic: No you are not missing anything nor do The IMI ever miss an opportunity to criticise a chance to slag off Ireland nor do they miss a chance to collect the funding we give them.
The ICI are against legalised prostitution which would reduce the number of trafficking so I don’t see why they are saying that more needs to be done. They are a government funded organisation so putting out these statements are routine regardless of statistics.
@Dj: the anti trafficking legislation is woefully inadequate and as part of the ff pd’s programme for government was supposed to be brought in line with what they have in the uk. However, it was never implementedand still haven’t been implemented.
The sex trade being kept illegal and swept under the carpet by an alliance of feminists and the Christian Taliban of course has nothing to do with giving gangsters ever more control of things…
Seems to me the only way to bring this to the surface is to.male it legal and tax it, like certain drugs, sometimes if you stop fighting it by embracing it will sort out a major part of the problem,
@Mick Hannigan: Except that these women – and they are mostly wome- have no right to work here,….they are immigrants- so it is kept underground no matter what legislation we bring in..
@EvieXVI: if you legalised it, the buyers would likely use legal sources meaning there will no longer be profit in trafficking people here for Sex. Help the men and women involved now, yes absolutely. But also concentrate on ensuring no others will be trafficked here for sex in future. And by legalising and taxing it, things will be much more in the open.
@Mick Hannigan: That doesn’t work. When prostitution is legalised the number of people (women and children) skyrockets.
Read up on it. The most effective thing at reducing human trafficking is to make the purchasing and sale of sex illegal, the next most effective is making the purchasing of sex illegal and the sale of sex decriminalised.
Here in Germany prostitution is completely legal, and they have one of the worst problems in the world with human trafficking for sex. There are also many children being trafficked for sex.
Ireland could of been a great safe country, how people of all ages have been brought in here illegal sold on for God knows what. Like our crime our media still doesn’t print the full story. Even when it was happening for years they didn’t. Ireland been a new country only really booming since the Celtic Tiger era . Could of stoped all these issues by looking at other countries when they grew.
You can go anywhere in Dublin with a smart phone and get an escort / dodgy massage with trafficked women. Quick search and you are less than 10minutes from finding someone through the millions of classified ads online. A friend was in Spain recently where prostitution is legal and searched on his phone but couldn’t find anything like the same extent here and how much easier it was here.
@James Baxter: Yes, a friend.
The realities of the country we live in :( and the “irish brides”
ah right yeah….’a friend’
Ye don’t hear much about those people held captive, Neath I think it was, twenty odd there was, all their pay was paid into one bank account by a waste disposal company.
Wondering……..me being a retired Nurse, Do the people using these sex workers, women & men….have regular health checkups ??
Only saying. I think they should.
Trafficking is slavery and people found guilty of it should be charged with slavery and kidnapping. They should also be given life sentences, BUT I HAVE A PROBLEM! Feminist groups have convinced the government to give any prostitute who’s been arrested by the guards and CLAIMS that they’ve been trafficked refugee status if they’re here illegally, instead of deporting them as would normally happen. I would be interested to know how many people IF ANY were convicted for trafficking them. What interests me more is why would they want prostitutes who have already applied for asylum to be treated in the same way. Unless for the same reason. If I have any of this wrong . Please reply
@Michael: ^ny misogynistic granda
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