We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
LAST UPDATE | 13 Feb 2019
HEALTH MINISTER SIMON Harris has asked the HSE to introduce HPV testing as the primary screening method for the prevention of cervical cancer “as soon as possible”.
The roll out of the new cervical cancer test has been held up by the backlog in smear tests, an Oireachtas Committee has heard today.
Fianna Fáil health spokesman Stephen Donnelly asked when HPV testing, which is more accurate than current smear exams, will be introduced.
Harris promised it would be introduced in September last year. This was then pushed out to January 2019.
Today, Anne O’Connor, interim director general of the HSE, said she was unable to give a date for the new regime. The committee was told the backlog in smear tests would have to be sorted out before the new test could be provided.
A spokesperson for the minister said the HPV test is a more accurate testing mechanism than liquid-based cytology, which is the current testing mechanism, and its use will result in fewer false negative results, though it will not eliminate them completely.
They added:
Its introduction is in line with developments in cervical screening internationally.
There is no doubt that the issues which emerged last year have resulted in operational challenges for the HSE and the Screening Service, and that stabilisation of the programme in 2019 is an important element in supporting the switch to HPV testing.
Accordingly, the HSE is working very actively to manage these challenges while progressing this major development as a priority.
Funding to implement the switch to HPV screening has been allocated in Budget 2019.
The Department of Health is continuing to work intensively with the HSE on this matter.
The health committee was also told today that there are 78,000 slides left in the CervicalCheck smear backlog.
HSE officials said that no start date has been committed to for the new HPV test, and it would take at least nine months to sign a contract with the service provider who will undertake and review the tests.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was asked about why the promise was being rolled back on. He said the government is “absolutely still committed” to the new test.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said that January has come and gone, and asked for a definitive timeline for the new test’s introduction.
Lab capacity
Varadkar said funding was allocated in the budget to roll out the test this year, but he added that laboratory capacity is a “key part” of the new service roll out.
He added that when the new test will be introduced is dependent on contractual arrangements, which have yet to be signed.
Having learned about committing to a specific date, seeing as the last two have been missed, the Taoiseach said it would be wrong to give a date that he cannot stand over.
Following the recommendation from the National Screening Service, the minister approved a switch to HPV testing.The HPV screening test was described by the previous HSE boss Tony O’Brien as an “additional enhancement” in cervical cancer prevention, and will make the current smear test system “redundant”. The accuracy of HPV testing is significantly higher than the current liquid based cytology testing, and is expected to result in fewer women receiving a false negative result.
The minister of health said last year the testing for the HPV virus will be a more appropriate strategy for the cohort of women who have received vaccination against HPV. (The HPV vaccine prevents 7 out of 10 cervical cancers and is given to girls in Ireland age of 12 to 13 years.)
What’s the difference between a smear test and the HPV test?
The smear test detects abnormal cells that may develop into cancer if left untreated.
HPV testing is used to look for the presence of HPV in cervical cells. These tests can detect HPV infections that cause cell abnormalities, sometimes even before cell abnormalities are evident.
Like the smear test, the HPV test is done on a sample of cells collected from the cervix.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Only because he knows nobody will tolerate the reimposition of restrictions
@Maria Hickey-Fagan: yYou’re dead right, look at the fallout lockdowns are having on inflation which is a long way from finished yet. Lockdowns affecting and will affect more than covid ever did…
@Declan Doyle: really? A certain war currently ongoing has nothing to do with it? You know, the one driving up the prices of electricity and causing an energy crisis…….something that to my knowledge the lockdowns never did.
Good idea to get going on a winter strategy…almost midway through October. Donnelly on the ball.
@alan: Eh, they’ve published the plan? That’s well beyond strategy
@alan: C’mon, what evidence of proactivity have we seen from this gov’t, they spend all their time chasing their tails. There are certain areas where we should err on the side of caution yet when it comes to Covid.
His plan to treat Long-COVID is to ignore it and hope it goes away by itself.
Imagine getting away with that in any other profession.
@Crow: imagine still going on about long covid
@Conor King: you would be ‘still going on about it’ if you were totally debilitated by it.
Imagine belittling sick people because you want to deny reality. Back to you QAnon mates there like a good lad.
@Crow: like they did with covid initially
Journal deletes documentary from the UK, that available on most platforms so the one sided narrative continues. Well done Journal.
@Stephen Grehan: and nobody even got to call you a conspiracy theorist
@Stephen Grehan: thumbs up for trying
@SquintEastwood: Safe and Effective: A Second Opinion
@SquintEastwood: Well done i was afraid to mention it as i suspect that comment would also be deleted. Perhaps the Journalist Tadgh McNally would care to explain why it was deleted when most platforms are showing this now, when up until a few weeks ago would have taken it down.
I’m fully vaxxed, have had it twice and the second time was a whole lot easier.
My father in law has just had it for the third time and had little more than a sore throat.
I’ll get the fku & covid jab and continue on.
We really need to stop going on about it at this point and just get on with life.
@Sequoia: You tell everyone to not talk about it meanwhile you’re talking about it? Thanks for giving us your father in laws life story
@Tom Jacob:
My opinion & thoughts are vitally important round here.
Didn’t you get the memo? I’m kind of a big deal.
Have an awesome day.
@Sequoia: I thought at first you said, “I’m fully waxed….”
Agree with your post, I think the gov’t have exhausted their money orchard.
1 in 40 had the virus last week in Northern Ireland. I’d imagine its similar here.
@Celtic Eagle: exactly, case numbers rising quickly in the UK, but sure let’s not talk about it in Ireland and hope it goes away
@Ian James Burgess: Ya gman because talking about it will make it go away. Does every comment you make about it reduce cases by 1 or what? If you’re so afraid of Covid then stay in your room all day lol
@Celtic Eagle: I dont believe thats true unless you can back that up!……. In the whole of the UK there was 62.4k new cases reported in the week to the 6th of October (From Our World In Data)….. 1 in 40 of population of 1.9 million in the north is around 47.5k people. By what your saying most of the cases in the while of the UK just happen to be in the north……… Then when you say you imagine its the same here that equates to around 125k cases here in a week?!?! Laughable!…… Officially its 2.4k here in the week to 5th of Oct.
Google it, I cant post links.
@Celtic Eagle: I did. In the last 7 days there was 1,819 cases in the north. Far from 1 in 40 in a population of 1.9million or 47.5k!……. Funny how you can make up stuff and not back it up with links but I can post links…… Link to the NI covid dashboard…… Some dose of fake news out of you!
@Celtic Eagle: just over 1 in 1,000 FYI
Hospital numbers here have risen by approx 100 over the last week and the percentage of positive tests by 4%. Thankfully icu numbers haven’t risen. It was 11 last night which is down a couple from this time last month. Vaccines are still important though. The UK are still averaging around 300 covid related deaths per week. Of course they didn’t have the same uptake in vaccines among the older population that we had, especially in ethnic groups. I get my 2nd booster tomorrow and I’m dreading it. Have had reactions to all my shots so far. But needs must.
@Gearóid MacEachaidh: No one cares
@Tom Jacob: well clearly you do
@Gearóid MacEachaidh: he’s a half wit, pay no attention.
Good idea to get going on a winter strategy…almost midway through October. Donnelly on the ball.j
@alan: Shrup
Good god, sounds like they will only make masks mandatory in certain situations, if it happens, though I’m not holding my breath. Similar to 2020, how they mandated masks in shops and on public transport before other places like covid can’t spread in other areas outside of shops/public transport/healthcare.
Well those of us who are willing to be vaxed are better protected and those who don’t want it can take their own chances, as long as when they do catch it, they have the cop on to stay away from others.
BTW, before anyone mentions it, those who contract it and are vaxed, already show that they have that cop on seeing as they got vaxed in the first place!
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say