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More than 100,000 cases of cancer will be prevented under plans to give boys the HPV jab as well as girls, UK health officials have said.
Giving boys the vaccine protects girls from the human papilloma virus (HPV), which is passed on through sexual contact. And it will also protect them from a range of other forms of the disease, including some cancers of the head and neck, and penile, anal and genital cancers. Scientists hope that cervical cancer could be eradicated within decades, because of the success of the jabs. Since the vaccine was introduced for teenage girls in 2008, cases of HPV have fallen by 86 per cent among the age groups vaccinated.
Professor Beate Kampmann, director of the vaccine centre at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: "This decision is a triumph for gender equality in cancer prevention.
"It's pleasing to see the UK follow the example of other countries like Australia, where the vaccine has been implemented for girls since 2007 and for boys since 2013."
Estimates from the University of Warwick suggest the vaccine will prevent 64,138 cervical cancers and 49,649 non-cervical cancers in the UK by 2058. This will include 3,433 cases of penile cancer and 21,395 cases of head and neck cancer, such as throat cancer, in men.
UK Health report available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/public-health-england
