Medical experts have called for a full national vaccination programme for adults, similar to what is available for children and for the shingles vaccine to be made free for older people.
Consultant geriatrician and stroke physician at the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland Professor Ronan Collins said that vaccination is the greatest single medical advance in modern history.
He told the Oireachtas Committee on Health, that programmes for childhood vaccination are the norm but Ireland’s approach to adult vaccination has been less robust.
He said that vaccination is an important pillar of healthcare to ensure healthy ageing and the prevention of cardiovascular disease, stroke and dementia.
The meeting has heard calls for the shingles recombinant vaccine to be made available free to those over 65 years.
Shingles is an infection that causes a painful rash and is caused by the chickenpox virus and can lead to complications.
However, the vaccine is not available on the public health system and only privately at a cost of around €480 for the two doses.
In a written statement to the committee, Professor Luke O’Neill, from the School of Biochemistry and Immunology at Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, said that around one in ten older adults could develop shingles every year.
He said the vaccine is very effective and several countries provide it for, such as the UK, Australia, Luxembourg, Canada and the UN, under Medicare.
Prof O’Neill also said there was evidence of the drug’s effectiveness in protecting against Alzheimer’s disease and heart disease.
He said that the goal now should be to increase the uptake of the Shingrix vaccine in the over 65s and making it free would be a major help in trying to achieve it.
Prof O’Neill added that assuming a 70% uptake and overall incidence of around 10,000 cases a year, this would result in a saving of up to €8 million a year.
Prof O’Neill said making the shingles vaccine free for over 65s could save up to €8m a year
Active Retirement Ireland (ARI) told the Committee that the National Immunisation Advisory Committee recommended the vaccine for all adults aged 65 years and over, as well as for certain immunocompromised groups.
But it is only privately available and not funded by the HSE.
ARI’s Head of Policy and Advocacy Alison Bough said that access depends on ability to pay and that this was not equitable.
She said that listed prices from named pharmacies places the cost of the two-dose course at around €450-€487, meaning a typical cost of around €480.
Ms Bough said that a short journey across the border to Northern Ireland will allow access through a publicly funded programme.
She added that in less than two weeks, over 20,000 of its members had signed its petition calling for a fair, State-supported access to the shingles vaccine.
A Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) study found that the vaccine was safe and effective, but at the price sought it was not considered cost effective.
Ms Bough has called for the Government to actively examine ways to enable the vaccine to be publicly funded or for State-supported access, including engagement with the makers on pricing.
She told the committee there was now a gap between a recommendation and access.
Ms Bough said that shingles is not simply an acute condition that resolves quickly.
For many older people, it can have lasting and significant consequences.
She told the committee that there needs to be recognition that vaccination for older people is an issue of prevention, equity and healthy ageing.