Advice on HPV jab for boys in months
Push for extension of life-saving vaccine programme
A RECOMMENDATION on whether to offer the potentially life-saving HPV jab to boys for free throughout the country is expected this September, health watchdog Hiqa has said.
HPV (human papillomavirus) can cause cervical cancer in women, but is associated with other types of cancer in both men and women.
Through Ireland’s national HPV vaccination programme, the HPV vaccine has been available to girls in their first year of secondary school for free since 2010.
The Department of Health had asked the Health Information and Quality Authority to examine the possibility of expanding the vaccination programme to include boys last summer.
Hiqa spokesman Marty Whelan yesterday said the watchdog has been carrying out a health technology assessment, which involves investigating the clinical benefits and cost effectiveness of Expansion call: Donal Buggy expanding the programme’s services to boys. A draft report from the review is expected to be available for public consultation within the next couple months, with a final report and recommendations expected by the end of September, Mr Whelan said.
The HPV jab is available to boys through their GP for a fee.
Donal Buggy, head of services and advocacy at the Irish Cancer Society, yesterday argued that teenage boys should have free access to the vaccine through the national programme.
‘While it’s hugely encouraging to see more young girls receive a cancer-preventing HPV vaccine under the national immunisation programme…we have much more work to do to ensure everyone has access to correct information about HPV vaccination,’ he said.
‘Awareness of vaccines to prevent cancers in men is particularly low. While 335 women are diagnosed with cancers caused by HPV each year, it is also important to note that 85 men in Ireland annually develop a cancer which could potentially be prevented by a simple vaccination. The Irish Cancer Society believes it is time for Ireland to offer equal protection against HPV-caused cancers for boys and girls.’
Mr Buggy’s comments come as new research reveals 65% of Irish adults don’t know that HPV can cause cancer. At the same time, 59% are unaware that there are vaccines that can prevent HPV infections that can cause cancer.
HPV is a common virus, often symptomless, that almost all adults will get in their lifetime. There are more than 100 different types of HPV and the majority of HPV infections are harmless.
While HPV infection usually clears up by itself, if it doesn’t it can cause cancer. In Ireland, HPV caused up to 420 cancers in men and women each year between 2010 and 2014. Up to 130 men and women die from cancers caused by HPV every year in Ireland.
The research, commissioned by pharmaceutical company MSD Ireland and carried out by Behaviour and Attitudes on a sample population of 1,000 adults in Ireland, also revealed a significant lack of knowledge and understanding of HPV among adults, with 38% of Irish adults falsely believing HPV cannot be transmitted from person to person.
‘Awareness is particularly low’
ACCORDING to a new study, nearly two in three people don’t know that HPV infections can lead to cancer. Almost as many are unaware that they can be immunised against the virus.
This newspaper welcomes the fact that these figures are being highlighted. We have been saying for many years now that the vaccine saves lives that could otherwise be put in jeopardy.
Down through the years, there has been plenty of ill-informed comment from certain quarters about the HPV jab. Yet all the medical evidence shows that it is a very effective safeguard.
If these latest findings demonstrate anything, they show the need for further education on the issue. Accordingly, it behoves the health authorities to start getting the message out there with a greater urgency than we’ve seen heretofore.