Who is Laura Brennan?
Laura Brennan was born on the 30th September 1992 in Co Clare to Bernie and Larry Brennan. Laura grew up with three brothers; Colin, Kevin and Fergal. In December 2016 Laura was diagnosed with cervical cancer, in September the following year she was told that she had incurable disease. Laura was unaware of the existence of the HPV vaccine. Laura approached the Health Service Executive (HSE) in 2017 to see what she could do to improve the uptake of the vaccine, which was at 51%. When Laura died on the 20th March 2019, the HPV vaccine uptake was at 70%.
Laura is attributed to this significant uptake of the vaccine and is recognised for saving many lives now and into the future as a result of her campaign. On the 30th of September 2021, on what would have been her 29th birthday, the Royal College of Physicians (RCPI) in Ireland unveiled a portrait of Laura, recognising her work in health advocacy. Her portrait is the first non-medic to hang on the walls of the RCPI.
The Laura Brennan Award
The Irish Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ISGO) wished to acknowledge Laura’s outstanding achievement in boosting the vaccine uptake in her lifetime. In conjunction with the ISGO committee, The Laura Brennan Award was born. The inaugural event took place in Belfast in November 2018 where Laura was acknowledged for her contribution. With Laura, it was decided that the Laura Brennan Award would be presented on an annual basis by the ISGO to a patient, organisation or member of the public as a recognition of outstanding achievement in the areas of gynaecological oncology patient advocacy and or patient and public involvement (PPI) in research.
The Laura Brennan HPV Vaccine Schools Catch-up Programme
The Laura Brennan HPV vaccine schools catch-up programme is designed to offer a further vaccination opportunity to young people, both male and female, who may have missed earlier opportunities to receive the HPV vaccine. The programme will be delivered primarily through schools. During the initial phase of the programme, free HPV vaccines will be provided to students in 5th and 6th year of secondary school between January and August 2026.
In the following phase, these vaccines will be available to students from 2nd to 5th year in the 2026/2027 academic year. You can find more information about the programme, visit www.hpv.ie (this link will take you to a different website).