Thread by @drg1985

Keep getting asked about @ClareDalyTD & her position on the #HPVvaccine. My personal opinion as someone who's been on front line of this quite a while is that her rationalization / excuses are lacking, & she can & should do better. Short thread why 1/10

First off, doesn't bode well when valid criticism dismissed as work of "political opponents". Vaccine & patient advocates have long sought clarification on her remarks. Many agree with her other positions, myself included. Dismissing concern as partisan is disingenuous. 2/10

Daly asserts she's just asking questions - isn't this a good thing? Sure - but "just asking questions" when answer already known isn't a good faith tactic, ESPECIALLY when one's being lauded by anti-vaccine groups for doing so, & medical-scientific community implore you stop 3/10

This technique known as JAQ-ing off; use of leading, loaded questions to advance an assertion implicitly. Daly's record on #HPVvaccine alludes constantly to severe dangers, despite the evidence clearing showing the vaccine to be safe & effective. 4/10 kildarestreet.com/search/?s=daly…

Daly btw is also far from the only politician who has "JAQ-ed off" on #HPVvaccine - others across the political spectrum have, & rightly got flack for it. I can name several, some I've even slammed some in print for it. There's no free pass for political expediency 5/10

Where Daly differs is that she has PERSISTENTLY claimed severe, debilitating health effects due to the HPV vaccine - here's her in March, asserting it yet again, & seeking compensation for it. There is no reputable medical evidence to support that conjecture whatsoever. 6/10

This is frankly scaremongering - there is no other way to parse it. As others have mentioned, she's being lauded by anti-vaccine groups for this stance; some more cynical would say it's at their behest and for their benefit. Case in points below 7/10

https://twitter.com/HeresHowPodcast/status/1128256125990854656

Adding insult to injury is that she's still at this, after anti-vaccine activism drove vaccine rates down from highs of 87% to lows of 50% in a year. It took HUGE effort from HSE, medical & scientific community, & patient advocates to reverse this. 8/10 thelancet.com/journals/lance…

We also all owe a tremendous debt to the incredible @laura_jbrennan ;her campaigning showed people how vital vaccination was. She was more than my colleague- she was my dear friend. For Daly to cast aspersions on the vaccine less than a week after Laura died is dreadful 9/10

But really, patient & vaccine advocates don't want Daly's head on a platter - they simply want her to stop propagating anti-vaccine sentiment under the guise of Dail questions, & to stop pushing discredited assertions. That isn't much to ask from an elected rep. Ends 10/10.

PS: #HPVvaccine is one of the most studied in history given the sheer amount of data we have on it. Rather than link to academic sources behind paywalls, here's a few articles on it, incl. some of mine:

irishtimes.com/opinion/anti-h…

thejournal.ie/hpv-vaccine-ir…

theguardian.com/science/blog/2…