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FOR ELEVEN YEARS, girls have been vaccinated routinely against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV). The vaccinations are offered in the first year of secondary school. Now boys will also be offered the virus in secondary schools, starting this autumn.
HPV can cause warts, but the virus is mainly known as the cause of cervical cancer in women, a relatively common cancer. They also cause some rarer cancers in the head and neck, as well as relatively rare cancers of the anus, penis, vulva or vagina.
Since the programme of vaccinating girls began, the number of cervical cancer cases (and the incidence of pre-cancerous cells) has been reduced. There has also been a dip in the incidence of male cancers, as fewer women are infected and are passing the virus on.
Experts estimate that extending the vaccination programme to boys could prevent 29,000 cancers in UK men over the next 40 years. Boys over the age of 14 will not be offered a vaccination on the NHS, but it can be bought privately for around £150 per dose. Girls can obtain a vaccination up to the age of 25. Gay men can obtain a vaccination up to the age of 45 from their GP or a sexual health clinic.
Two doses of the vaccine are necessary to offer full protection, which lasts for at least ten years. It is most effective if it is given to children before they become sexually active, so parents are strongly encouraged to take up the vaccine when it is offered in school and not wait until children are older.
There are fears that some parents may associate the virus with sexual activity and may be reluctant to let their children have the vaccine. However, HPV is not only acquired by sexual activity, and most parents will want to give their children as much protection from cancer as possible.
The authorities hope that there will be a big take up of the vaccine by boys – and that 29,000 men and 85,000 will avoid the agonies of suffering from cancer before the middle of the century.
Campaigners had to fight to get the vaccination programme for girls agreed and then fight again, for it to be extended to boys. It is very good news that the Government has at last accepted the cost and health benefits of bringing boys into the programme.
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