MPs confirm there will be no catch-up HPV vaccination programme for boys

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MPs have confirmed that there will be no catch-up HPV vaccination programme for boys.

In a letter to shadow public health minister, Sharon Hodgson, MP Steve Brine, suggests that teenage boys will benefit from ‘herd protection,’ but the British Dental Association does not agree. Mick Armstrong, chair of the BDA, claims that the government is trying to save money and at the same time, this is putting up to 2 million boys at risk.

The BDA is calling for a catch-up programme for boys who have missed out on the HPV vaccine. The immunisation, which has been administered to girls for many years to protect against cervical cancer, has only recently been approved for boys, and will only be available from 2019.

New recommendations will enable around 400,000 boys to be vaccinated every year. HPV (human papilloma virus) is a very common virus. In the vast majority of cases, the virus doesn’t cause any problems, but certain strains are linked to an elevated risk of some forms of cancer, including cervical cancer and oral cancer.

Mr Armstrong suggested that the latest figures on vaccination for girls underline the importance of a non-gender-specific approach to immunisation and urged the government to consider expanding the scheme to include boys who have missed out on the vaccine.

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