Government backs plan to offer HPV vaccine to boys

THE Government is to back the extension of the HPV jab being offered to boys as well as girls in the first year of secondary school.

Cabinet members supported a decision by Health Minister Simon Harris to back a Labour Party motion on providing the vaccine to boys. It guards against some sexually transmitted infections, as well as helping to prevent cervical cancer in females.

Inoculation rates are improving again for girls after falling for a number of years in the wake of social-media stories about alleged side effects.

HPV is a group of more than 100 viruses. According to the HSE, most people will get a HPV infection during their lifetime, usually due to sexual activity. Most of these do not cause any symptoms, or problems, and resolve themselves without treatment. However, in a small number of cases, certain HPV types can progress to cancer. HPV can infect both females and males and is associated with cancer of the cervix, vulva, vagina, penis and anus.

Every year in Ireland approximately 300 women get cervical cancer and around 90 women die from the condition.

Boys do not receive the HPV vaccine under the Schools Immunisation Programme, unlike in some other countries. The European Centre for Disease and Control considers it ‘sensible’ to extend the vaccination to boys, as it would reduce the risk to women, as well as preventing HPVrelated cancers in men.

Alan Kelly, Labour’s spokesman on health, commented: ‘What is so tragic is that this type of cancer is unique in the level of preventative measures available, one of which is the HPV vaccine.’

He said HPV was associated with 99% of all cervical cancers. ‘Fortunately the HPV vaccine protects against the four strains of the virus which are implicated in most cases of cervical cancer.’

While there had been a recent uptake in vaccination rates since the ‘huge drop last August due to misinformation doing the rounds’, the Dáil now supported the campaign to encourage parents to avail of the vaccine for their children in their first year of secondary school, he said.

‘We also want the vaccine to be extended to boys, because they can also develop HPV-associated cancers in later life, such as oropharyngeal [throat] cancer, penile cancer and genital warts in men and women,’ Mr Kelly said. Extending the HPV vaccine to boys was therefore a common-sense, evidence-based measure which is already in place in countries like Australia, he said.

Last year the outgoing head of the HSE, Tony O’Brien, criticised groups who have raised concerns about the impact of the Gardasil jab, which is the chosen method of delivering the vaccine in Ireland.

He accused campaigners of engaging in ‘emotional terrorism’ by attempting to encourage others to boycott the injection.

Health Minister Mr Harris said that anyone who wanted to comment adversely on the vaccine should first get a medical degree or else ‘butt out’.

More than 30,000 young girls starting secondary school are due to receive the HPV vaccine this year, with parents asked to sign a consent form.

Extending the jab to boys would double the annual cost.