Vape-related hospitalisations go from zero to 12 in two years
The HSE has been asked to explain delays in rolling out a youth vaping prevention campaign after €300,000 was allocated for it last year.
In response to a parliamentary question from Labour TD Conor Sheehan, the HSE said 'concern has risen due to an increase in the incidence of vaping-related disorders internationally'.
In 2021, there were zero hospitalisations linked to vape-related disorders recorded in Ireland.
This jumped to seven diagnoses in 2022, 10 in 2023, and 12 in 2024.
Mr Sheehan said while the number is small, it is increasing.
Health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said €300,000 was allocated in Budget 2025 for a youth vaping prevention media campaign, which is currently being developed by the HSE.
Mr Sheehan further asked the HSE if it was considering providing QUIT campaigns to vapers.
The HSE responded that it 'has not been directed by the department of health to develop a stop vaping/nicotine pouch cessation service'.
'The development of such a service requires dedicated additional resources in terms of staff and capital funding,' the HSE said.
Mr Sheehan said it is 'absolutely ridiculous' that the youth awareness strategy has not been rolled out 10 months on from last October's budget.
'You talk to a lot of parents now and they're finding vapes falling out of the washing of their teenagers," he said.
'It's illegal now to sell vapes to under-18s, but that's a relatively recent development. There are ways around that, to put it mildly.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Journal
10 minutes ago
- The Journal
Only 100 free-of-charge car parking spaces at new children's hospital not enough, say critics
OF THE 1,000 car parking spaces that will be available at the new National Children's Hospital, just 100 of them will be free-of-charge for families in need. It was revealed two years ago that car parking charges at the children's hospital will be capped at a maximum of €10 per day, something which sparked controversy at the time. In answering a parliamentary question, Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said the car park will be split across two floors of the new hospital with a total of 994 car park spaces. There are 319 spaces dedicated to staff and 675 for patients and families, of which 100 spaces are for those who will not be required to pay for parking, she confirmed. The new National Children's Hospital Ireland is located in the heart of south central Dublin city on the grounds of the wider St James' Hospital campus. Patients attending the hospital are encouraged to use public transport 'where possible' with just a limited of number of onsite parking with direct access to the main entrance. Access to the National Children's Hospital Ireland on the St. James' Campus is well served by public transport, said the health minister, though she acknowledged there is a need for families to access the hospital by car. However, Sinn Féin's David Cullinane has hit out at the government for giving over such a small number of free car parking spaces to families. Advertisement Government watering down promises Speaking to The Journal , he accused the government of watering down its previous promises around capping car parking charges in hospitals. 'My view is that car parking charges should be phased out in hospitals, but particularly when you're talking about children. There is a cost of a child being sick. Parents have to take time off work. Parents can be up and down the hospital a lot. 'Obviously, with a sick child, parents need to be there more often. So for all of those reasons, I've contended that all of the spaces should be free [at the new hospital],' he said. 'For only 100 of them to be free, it doesn't seem fair and doesn't seem right. As we transition to the new site, hopefully sometime next year, I would hope that the right decision will be made to ensure that car parking spaces are free,' said the Waterford TD. Promise to cap charge Hospital car park charges have been a contentious issue for a number of years. In 2018, the HSE undertook a national review of car parking charges at the request of the then-health minister Simon Harris. It recommended that hospitals should cap the maximum daily rate for parking at €10 and introduce concessions for regular patients and found that 'funding of approximately €4.75m would be required to offset the reduction in income as a result of these changes'. Reducing hospital parking costs became a key promise in the 2020 Programme for Government but there was little progress on the issue over the last five years. There are huge regional disparities in parking costs. According to the Irish Cancer Society, cancer patients in Dublin can pay up to five times more than those in rural areas. However, despite this being a key talking point for the last number of years, in particular as the 2026 opening date for the new children's hospital gets closer, the new Programme for Government has done away with a commitment to cap parking fees and now merely promises to 'explore further ways to reduce hospital car parking charges'. Related Reads Minister says wing of new children's hospital might be named after medic Kathleen Lynn The country's new children's hospital will be called (drumroll) – the National Children's Hospital Ireland Children's hospital may not open until 2026 due to 'risks' of moving sick children during winter The government's commitment on parking charges has been 'watered down' in the new Programme for Government, Cullinane said. Under Sinn Féin's policy, hospital charges would be phased out over a period of time, he said, stating that obviously, like any measure, it costs a lot of money and might be difficult to do in one go. 'But I don't have confidence that the government is going to do any more than what they have done,' he said, adding that the previous health minister Stephen Donnelly had expressed an opinion that car parking charges should be free. 'What we're seeing now in the new Programme for Government, in my view, is a rolling back of that, a watering down of it, with no detail as to what is actually meant in the programme for government. 'Now we have a situation where the new Children's Hospital potentially could have the vast majority of spaces at a cost and I think that's unacceptable, given that we're talking about sick children and parents visiting sick children. So the government needs to do the right thing and ensure that they're free from day one,' added Cullinane. Outsourcing hospital car parks Labour's health spokesperson Marie Sherlock agreed, expressing concern over the outsourcing of car parks to profit-maximising companies. She suggested that the new hospital should directly manage parking and therefore could increase free or low-cost spaces. 'The whole point of constructing these hospitals is that people are coming from right across the country and they will have to drive. They will not be there for short periods, they'll be there for long periods of time, either as an inpatient or outpatient. So the reality is that we have to have an accommodating situation with regards to car parking in the new National Children's Hospital,' said Sherlock. She said people are angry and upset over the high cost of parking charges at hospitals stating that there's a real responsibility with this new public building that patients and their families would be accommodated to much greater degree. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Irish Examiner
10 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
CervicalCheck diagnosed and treated 162 women for cervical cancer in a year
Over the course of one year alone 162 women were diagnosed and treated for cervical cancer through CervicalCheck, a new report shows. The report, covering April 2022-March 2023, also shows that among 269,550 women screened some 11% had HPV - the virus responsible for almost all cervical cancer. These women are monitored so if cancer develops it can be treated early. The report found that 75% of eligible women were tested, while the target is 80% and CervicalCheck clinical director Dr Noirin Russell is keen to see this 80% figure reached. She has raised concerns about 'women who are on the fence' about testing, saying they may not be aware of the benefits of regular testing. "If a woman is diagnosed with cancer after attending for screening, there's an 80% chance she will be diagnosed with stage 1," she said. This early stage can be more treatable. 'In Ireland today your chance of being diagnosed with a late stage cancer, so Stage 2 or above, if you get screened is one in 10,000. If you don't get screened, it's 10 times higher,' she said. This is because screening can help identify early signs of cancer. 'The incidence (of cervical cancer) has gone from 15 per 100,000 down to 10 per 100,000, that's the proof the programme works,' she said. She acknowledged 'this terrible outcome that we see in the newspapers and we really all want to avoid - it's one in 10,000 so that means it is someone'. Dr Russell said she could not comment on individual cases. Concerns around cervical cancer testing were back in the spotlight in June when Cork woman Leona Macken received an apology for failings in her care at the High Court. Ms Macken, who has cervical cancer, sued over two tests, conducted in 2016 and 2020, which it was claimed were incorrectly reported as negative. Sample checking is currently shared between Quest Diagnostics in America and the national laboratory in Dublin. Dr Russell said she is aware of calls to conduct checks only in Ireland. Leona Macken (centre) and her husband Alan (right) settled their legal action against the HSE arising from what they said were failures in the CervicalCheck screening programme in 2016 and 2020. File photo: Collins Courts '(the Irish laboratory) never did more than 10% until this year, and they are on target to get up to approximately 20% of the programme work,' she said. However, she said that interval cancers – cervical cancer found between screening tests – and false negative results can happen in all systems. 'That is not limited to a particular laboratory, that is going to be what we find in cancer cases,' she said. She has worked with advocacy group 221 plus on reforms, saying: 'They felt the programme didn't really explain false negatives and that this is a possible outcome.' She urged: 'It's really important that anyone with symptoms, even if they've had a normal screening test, have those symptoms investigated.' Dr Russell has visited Quest Diagnostics, saying: 'It's done in a particular quarter of the laboratory, so it's a completely different pathway of care. And they follow the Irish standards.' The scientists also do regular skills-tests where they check already-analysed samples and must match the results in 95% of cases. This is assessed by Quest and in Limerick by the National Cervical Screening Programme. Dr Russell said: 'There is an understanding in the cyto-screening community that you can't ask your screeners to get 100% in the proficiency test. If they are getting 95% they are working at the most achievable human level there is but then there will be abnormalities that are missed.'
Irish Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
State to provide free counselling sessions for men with mental health concerns
A new €2 million scheme to provide up to 15,000 free counselling sessions for men with mental health concerns is to be launched by the Government. It will fund supports which will be made available through GPs and will include a national marketing campaign targeting men directly from next month. While males have often been reluctant to discuss mental health issues, it is hoped the scheme will make it easier to seek help. It will provide access to a range of new talk therapies and counselling supports specifically aimed at men. It is hoped the finding will help reduce the stigma often associated with mental health and encourage men who otherwise would not usually avail of counselling to reach out for help. According to the Central Statistics Office, 449 people died by suicide in Ireland in 2021 and of these 359 (80%) were men compared to 90 (20%) of such deaths among women. It is believed the real figures are much higher as the deaths of all those who take their own lives are not always confirmed as suicide. Minister of State with responsibility for Mental Health and Older People, Mary Butler Minister for Mental Health, Mary Butler said the initiative is part of the national approach to mental health policy implementation, Sharing the Vision – A Mental Health Policy for Everyone, and Connecting for Life, Ireland's strategy for suicide prevention, She added: 'This is a much-needed initiative to widen access to supports for men, from mental health promotion activities, right through to counselling services and specialist support. 'These new supports will be made available to every GP in the country for direct signposting to men during consultations. 'They will also be available directly to men through our HSE helpline and website and promoted in a targeted national marketing campaign beginning from September 2025. 'More than ever, it is essential that men feel that they can reach out, to access the services and support that they need and deserve, or simply equip them with the confidence to talk to family and friends.' Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here.
