The HSE HPV catch-up programme is now open for secondary school students

If your teenager is in second, third, fourth or fifth year this September and hasn’t had their HPV vaccine yet, this news is genuinely worth stopping the school-run chaos for. The HSE has launched the next phase of the Laura Brennan HPV Vaccine Catch-Up Programme — and it means eligible young people now have another chance to get vaccinated for free, right in their own school.

HPV, or human papillomavirus, is incredibly common. Most people will come into contact with it at some point in their lives, and in some cases it can lead to cancer later on — cervical cancer being the most well-known, but also cancers of the throat, anus, penis and vulva. The vaccine offers strong protection against those risks, and it’s most effective when given early. That’s exactly why this catch-up programme matters so much.

What the programme involves

HSE vaccination teams will be visiting post-primary schools across Ireland to identify students in second to fifth year who haven’t previously received the HPV vaccine. The vaccination is completely free, and consent works as you’d expect: parents and guardians of students aged 15 and under will be asked to give consent, while young people aged 16 and over can consent themselves.

If your child received one dose of the HPV vaccine when it was first offered in first year, they’re already fully vaccinated — no second dose needed. And if you have a home-educated child in the eligible age group (born between 1 September 2008 and 31 August 2013), they can also access the free vaccine. You’ll find the details on how to do that at HSE.ie.

The first phase of the school catch-up programme, which ran earlier this year, saw more than 2,000 young people come forward who had previously missed their vaccine. That’s 2,000 young people now protected who otherwise might not have been.

The woman behind the programme

The programme carries the name of Laura Brennan, the woman whose extraordinary advocacy for HPV vaccination transformed public awareness in Ireland. Laura died of cervical cancer — an HPV-related cancer — when she was just 26. In the final months of her life, she campaigned publicly and without flinching, urging young people to get vaccinated. Her words stay with you: “The HPV vaccine saves lives; it could have saved mine.”

Her mother, Bernie Brennan, continues to carry that message. “Laura would have turned 34 this year but she died of cervical cancer, a HPV-related cancer, when she was 26,” Bernie said. “As I always say, prevention is better than cure and prevention is definitely better than no cure. If you have a boy or girl in first year, make sure they get their HPV vaccine. If they missed out in first year, they have a chance to catch-up now with the launch of this programme in Laura’s name. Don’t miss the opportunity to save them from HPV-related cancers when they grow up.”

It’s hard to read that and not feel it somewhere deep. Bernie lost her daughter to a disease that a vaccine can now help prevent. Her appeal to parents couldn’t be clearer.

Why this matters right now

It’s easy, especially during the whirlwind of a new school year, to let things slip off the to-do list. Between the new uniforms, the book lists, the trying-to-remember-which-day-is-PE, vaccination admin isn’t always top of mind. But this one is worth paying attention to.

Dr Lucy Jessop, Consultant in Public Health Medicine and National Immunisation Lead at the HSE National Immunisation Office, put it plainly: “HPV is very common and can cause cancer later in life, but vaccination can significantly reduce that risk. This catch-up programme gives young people who missed out another opportunity to get protected.”

A study published recently in The Lancet added further weight to that. In England, cervical cancer deaths among young women have dropped dramatically since the HPV vaccine was introduced — with no cervical cancer deaths recorded among women aged 20 to 24 between 2020 and 2024. Those are the kinds of numbers that make you sit up straight.

It’s also worth remembering that the HPV vaccine isn’t just for girls. Boys have been offered it as part of the routine school vaccination programme since September 2019, because HPV-related cancers affect everyone.

The HSE is encouraging parents to read up on the programme, talk openly with their teenagers about it and support them to make an informed decision when the vaccine is offered in school. If your child is in the eligible year groups and hasn’t been vaccinated, this is a straightforward opportunity to get them protected — no appointment, no fuss, done in school.

And while HPV vaccination is brilliant, it doesn’t replace cervical screening. If you’re between 25 and 65, free cervical screening is available through the HSE’s CervicalCheck programme — so make sure you’re keeping up with your own appointments too.