Teen boys SHOULD get HPV jab like girls – to protect against cancer
BOYS should be given a jab that protects against an STI known to raise the risk of cancer, government advisers say.
The deadly virus can be passed on through unprotected sex and is also linked to head, neck, cervical, penile and vaginal cancers.
Girls already receive the HPV vaccine on the NHS but health chiefs have previously claimed it was not cost effective in boys.
Doctors, dentists and cancer charities have been campaigning for the vaccination programme to be extended to all children.
They said denying boys the jab left them vulnerable if they were gay or had sex with a woman who had not been vaccinated.
Now the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has suggested ministers adopt a “gender neutral” programme.
The panel said: “It is likely that a gender neutral programme would be cost-effective, and on the basis of these findings JCVI would advise extending immunisation to adolescent boys.”
If the Department of Health follows the advice, it will bring the UK into line with more than a dozen other countries, including Australia and Canada.
Cancer minister MP Steve Brine said on Twitter today he is looking at the JCVI advice.
"I know there are strong views on this issue and am well aware of everyone's concerns," he said.
"Be assured I am looking at the advice carefully and will announce our decision very soon."
HPV, which is sexually transmitted, is thought to cause one in every 20 cancers, rising to half of penis cancers and seven in ten cervical cancers.
Cases of oral cancer have risen by almost a quarter in the UK over the past decade, with experts blaming the popularity of dating apps and oral sex.
Basic Instinct actor Michael Douglas, 73, claimed HPV caught through oral sex was responsible for his throat cancer.
Peter Baker, from campaign group HPV Action, said: “The JCVI’s advice that boys should be vaccinated is very welcome news for boys and their parents.
“We have waited a very long time for this announcement and it is now imperative that ministers accept the JCVI’s advice without delay so that no more boys are left at risk.
“HPV Action believes it is entirely realistic for the vaccination of boys to begin by September 2019 at the latest.”
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Prof Helen Stokes-Lampard, from the Royal College of GPs, said: “It has been frustrating that this effective vaccine has, until now, only been available on the NHS to girls but not boys.
“We hope parents will take up this important opportunity to get their sons and daughters vaccinated as soon as it is available to them.”
The Department of Health said: “We are carefully considering their advice and will update on a decision shortly.”