Health bodies criticise decision not to expand HPV vaccination programme
Health bodies and campaign groups have criticised a decision not to expand the HPV vaccination programme to include teenage boys.
Representatives from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recently suggested that extending the programme was “highly unlikely to be cost-effective”, angering health bodies and campaigners who called for the vaccine to be made available to boys, as well as girls. The current scheme was introduced in 2008 and provides vaccination for 12 and 13-year old girls as a means of protecting them against cervical cancer.
The JCVI has been examining the possibility of expanding the immunisation programme to include teenage boys since 2014 and recently, the panel reached a decision not to support plans to offer vaccines to boys.
HPV is a virus that affects up to 80 percent of people in their lifetime. In the vast majority of cases, it doesn’t cause any harm, but certain strains are linked to an increased risk of some forms of cancer, including cervical, oesophageal and oral cancer. Health professionals claim that HPV is linked to around 1 in 20 cases of cancer in the UK.
Campaigners, including those the Faculty of Sexual Health and Reproductive Healthcare, have criticised the decision not to make the vaccine available for thousands of teenage boys. President, Asha Kasliwal, described the decision as a “missed opportunity” and called for the decision to be overturned at the next committee meeting in October.
The decision has also sparked anger among dental professionals. Mick Armstrong, chair of the British Dental Association slammed the findings as “frankly indefensible.”
Join this Discussion