Health Minister Mary Harney must be congratulated for her decision to introduce the cervical cancer vaccination programme which was wrongly cancelled in November 2008.

The reintroduction of the cervical cancer vaccination programme and the announcement of a National Colorectal Screening Service are positive developments.

A wrong has been righted and lives will be saved as a result of the Minister’s decision to reverse her cancellation of the vaccination programme in 2008. The vaccine will be offered free of charge this year for approximately 30,000 girls who are now in first year of secondary school.

There are approximately 250-300 new cases of cervical cancer diagnosed each year, and 70-100 women die each as a result of cervical cancer.

The national cervical screening programme, CervicalCheck, was introduced in 2008 and screened over 250,000 women in 2009, its first full year of operation.

A vaccination programme working with a screening programme has been accepted as the best way to reduce the number of cervical cancer deaths.

The Minster decision to roll-out a free National Colorectal Screening Service from 2012 is also important. Colorectal cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer among men and women in Ireland. About 2,200 new cases are diagnosed every year and approximately 1,000 people die from it.

Free screening will initially be offered to 400,000 people in the 60 to 69 age group. The programme will be operated by the National Cancer Screening Service in cooperation with the Health Service Executive. The programme will be extended to all those aged 55 to 74 years of age as logistics and resources allow.