British Dental Association Supports HPV Vaccinations for Teenage Boys
The British Dental Association has given its support to a campaign for HPV injections for teenage boys. Currently, vaccinations are provided for teenage girls only.
The BDA is part of the HPV Coalition, which is made up of 44 organisations calling for the HPV vaccine to be made available for all adolescents in the UK. Teenage girls are vaccinated due to the link between certain strains of HPV and cervical cancer. However, research has confirmed that HPV is associated with many other diseases, including oral cancer. Statistics show that HPV has a role in around 5 percent of cases of cancer diagnosed in the UK.
Russ Ladwa, chair of the Health and Science Committee at the BDA, said that it’s important for dentists to support the HPV programme and to use their position to fight oral cancer. This form of cancer is becoming increasingly prevalent and it is now the 10th most common type of cancer diagnosed in males in the UK.
Some experts believe that the current vaccination programme is discriminatory and a universal programme would be much more effective.
As part of the campaign, the BDA is encouraging health professionals and organisations to support the HPV Coalition’s Thunderclap, which takes place this week. The event is part of a week-long programme to raise awareness of European Immunisation Week, which runs until the 30th April.
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