A survivor of cervical cancer has said that Ireland has a chance of eliminating this form of cancer by 2040, if vaccination rates and screenings remain high.
According to the HSE, HPV causes 406 cancers in both women and men in Ireland every year.
More than 6,500 women need hospital treatment for pre-cancer of the cervix, each year, almost 300 women get cervical cancer, and 90 women die from cervical cancer.
Farmer and carer Lyn Fenton, 52, is a mother-of-two from Killorglin in Co Kerry.
Although she regularly attended her smear checks, she was part of the Cervical Check failure.
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Now as a cancer survivor, she works as a patient advocate to raise awareness of cervical cancer and the benefits of the HPV vaccine.
"It was so traumatic and to know that what I had experienced could have been prevented," she said.
"It really was not a pleasant thing to go through."
Ms Fenton said her experience had "lit a fire under me to try to change things, improve things, to fight".
She is delighted that people have confidence to go for their cervical checks now.
As a patient advocate, she has worked to improve the process for people including making their diagnoses easier to read and understand.
As a mother of two boys, she was delighted to sign their permission slips so that they could get the HPV vaccine in school.
"For future generations, I want to make a difference," Ms Fenton said.
"When we were younger, we would have said 'Oh my gosh wouldn't it be fantastic to have a cure for cancer?'
"This [HPV vaccine] is one of them.
"This is a cure for cancer.
"Why would anyone not want to be involved in that?
"To be involved in that you get vaccinated, you vaccinate young people, and you have your screening, and you look for changes and that's it."
HSE plans to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040
Cervical cancer is the most common form of cancer arising from the HPV virus group.
Currently Ireland has one of the highest rates of cervical cancer in western Europe but figures from the HSE suggest that number is falling since the introduction of the HPV vaccine.
The HSE launched a Cervical Cancer Elimination action plan last year.
"We are on target to eliminate cervical cancer in 2040 and I am due to retire in 2041."
The health service plans to eradicate the cancer by 2040. Eradication would mean that fewer than four people in 100,000 would be diagnosed with cervical cancer in Ireland.
In 2022, the most recent year for which there is official HSE data, there were 10.1 cases of cervical cancer per 100,000 people.
In 2008, the rate was 15.8 people in 100,000.
The HPV vaccine protects against nine types of HPV, but it does not protect from all types of HPV.
This means that the risk of cervical cancer is not eradicated by taking the HPV vaccine and is one of the reasons cervical screening remains important.
Screening can also detect cervical cancers that are not caused by HPV.
According to a 2022 report from National Cancer Registry Ireland (NCRI), cervical cancer rates in Ireland have seen a 2.8% year on year decline.
Speaking to RTÉ's Morning Ireland from Tallaght University Hospital, Sinéad Cleary, advanced nurse practitioner and colposcopist said that the patients she has seen come through the service has changed since she began working in this area in 2005.
Ms Clearly believes she will see cervical cancer eliminated within her career.
"I began in colposcopy in 2005," she said.
"In 2008, Ireland launched its first call and recall smear programme, what we now know as CervicalCheck.
"In 2010 Ireland started HPV vaccination."
Every year, Ms Cleary sees a 2% - 3% reduction rate in cervical cancer.
"Since 2020 there is a 60% drop in those vaccinated women being referred with high-grade pre-cancer abnormalities that require treatment.
"We are on target to eliminate cervical cancer in 2040 and I am due to retire in 2041.
"So, in my career I will have seen the elimination of the horrific disease."
The HSE targets are for 90% of girls vaccinated against HPV by age 15, 70% of women screened by the age of 35 and again by age 45, and to have 90% of people identified with cervical disease treated.
Since September 2019, the HPV vaccination programme has been available to all first-year students in secondary school. It was originally rolled out for girls only.
HPV stands for 'human papillomavirus', a group of more than 100 viruses. It causes one in 20 cancer cases worldwide.
High-risk HPV infection is found in almost all (99%) of cervical cancers; however, the virus also causes five in ten vulval cancers, seven in ten vaginal cancers and nine out of ten incidences of genital warts.
Read more: New Govt roadmap to 'eliminate' cervical cancer by 2040
