HPV Action welcomes ministerial announcement that boys will be vaccinated against hpv and calls for early implementation

24 July 2018 (Last updated: 28 Mar 2022 19:23)

HPV Action is delighted that ministers at the Department of Health and Social Care have today accepted the advice of the government’s vaccination advisory committee (JCVI) and that the national HPV vaccination programme will now be extended to include adolescent boys in England.

Last week, health ministers in Wales and Scotland confirmed that they would be introducing vaccinations for boys.   This is a big step forward for public health and equality and will mean that, each year, around 400,000 boys can be protected against HPV infection and the diseases it causes, including cancer.

It brings the UK into line with around 20 other countries that already vaccinate boys or which plan to do so soon. These include Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, and the USA.

HPV Action is now calling for:

• Immediate confirmation that boys in Northern Ireland will also be vaccinated.
• The early publication of an implementation plan for a national rollout at the earliest possible opportunity (September 2019 at the latest).
• A catch-up programme for boys which parallels that available for girls. This would mean that any boy in school years 8, 9, 10 and 11 can be vaccinated.
• The production of information materials targeted at boys, their parents and teachers. It is essential that all those involved fully understand the rationale for vaccinating boys.
• A national campaign which seeks to maximise vaccine uptake in both sexes with the aim of eliminating the current substantial variations in uptake between local authority areas.
   

Tristan Almada, Founder of the  NOMAN is an Island: Race to End HPV Campaign, said: "We stand and applaud the Minister's announcement today that boys will be included in the HPV vaccination programme. 400,000 boys a year will now be protected against this devastating virus which is responsible for the fastest increasing cancers in UK men today.    I saw first-hand the devastating impacts of HPV when my mother Paulette passed away from Stage IV HPV-related anal cancer in 2010, aged 53 – the reason I founded the campaign.  By taking this step to protect boys as well as girls, the UK is emerging as a global leader in the fight against HPV. I am confident that this change in policy will be the catalyst for more countries in Europe and beyond to implement this life-saving vaccine."

Peter Baker, HPV Action’s Campaign Director, said: “The decision to vaccinate boys as well as girls means that we are no longer attempting to tackle the scourge of HPV with one hand tied behind our back. This will make a real difference to the health of men and women and it will, ultimately, also save money. We have waited five long years for JCVI’s advice and the priority now is to introduce the boys’ programme as soon as possible. We see no reason why it can’t be up-and-running by September 2019.”

 

ENDS

 

For more information, please contact:            

Peter Baker, HPV Action: 07786 454 905 or hpvaction@gmail.com

David Winterflood, NOMAN is an Island: 020 7272 3347 or 07734469218 dwinterflood@analcancerfoundation.org

 

Notes to editors

1. HPV causes about 5% of all cancers, specifically cervical, vulval and vaginal in women, penile in men, and anal and head and neck cancers in both sexes. HPV also causes genital warts and recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) in both men and women.
    
2. HPV Action estimates that, each year in the UK, there are around 2,000 new cases of cancer in men caused by HPV and about 43,000 new cases of genital warts. At any one time, about 600 men and boys are affected by RRP.
    
3. The current UK programme for girls does protect men who have sex with vaccinated women but many men will have sex with women who not been vaccinated either in the UK or abroad. Nationally, over 15% of UK women are not vaccinated and in some local areas this proportion is much higher (around 50% of girls are not vaccinated in Stockton, for example).
    
4. Many other countries have low vaccination rates for girls – it is currently around 25% in France – and some countries have no vaccination programme for girls (e.g. Poland and Romania).
    
5. Men who have sex with men (MSM), who are at greater risk of HPV-related diseases, are offered some protection by a recently-introduced vaccination programme delivered via sexual health clinics. However, this will reach too few MSM and will reach them too late, after many have already been infected with HPV.
    
6. The vaccination of boys is becoming more widely adopted internationally. About 20 countries now either vaccinate boys or plan to do so soon, including Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland and the USA.
    

Peter Baker

Campaign Director

HPV Action

Tel: 07786 454 905

hpvaction@gmail.com

www.hpvaction.org

@hpvaction

 

HPV Action is a collaborative partnership of 51 patient and professional organisations that advocates HPV vaccination for both boys and girls. Its members are:

British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, British Association of Dental Nurses, British Association of Dental Therapists, British Dental Association, British Association of Head and Neck Oncologists (BAHNO), British Society for Immunology, British Society of Dental Hygiene and Therapy, Brook, Cancer Focus Northern Ireland, Children’s HIV Association of the UK & Ireland (CHIVA), ENT UK, European Men’s Health Forum, Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, Faculty of General Dental Practice (UK), Faculty of Public Health, Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare, Family Planning Association, GMFA (Gay Men’s Health Charity), Herpes Viruses Association, HPV and Anal Cancer Foundation, Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, Let’s Talk About Mouth Cancer, London Cancer Alliance, London Friend, Men’s Health Forum (GB), Men’s Health Forum Ireland, Mouth Cancer Foundation, National Aids Manual, National Association of Laryngectomee Clubs (NALC), National Education Union, National Oral Health Promotion Group, National Union of Students, Northern Head and Neck Cancer Fund, Oral Cancer Foundation (USA), Oral Health Foundation, Primary Care Urology Society, Rainbow Project, Reproductive Health Matters, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Royal Society for Public Health, The School and Public Health Nurses Association, Sexpression:UK, Society of British Dental Nurses, Society of Sexual Health Advisers, Stonewall, The Swallows Head and Neck Cancer Support Group, Tenovus, Terrence Higgins Trust, Throat Cancer Foundation, The Urology Foundation, Wellbeing of Women

 

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