HELP US END 5% OF CANCER.IT’S TIME TO VACCINATE BOYS TOO.
HPV Action believes that the UK national HPV vaccination programme should include both boys and girls to prevent a range of HPV-related conditions, including cancers and genital warts. This would improve public health, tackle health inequalities, prove cost-effective and, above all, reduce the suffering caused by diseases that are easily preventable.
HPV is believed to be the causal agent in 5% of all human cancers. Among the cancers affecting men, it is estimated that HPV infection is associated with 80-90% of anal cancers, 40-50% of penile, and up to 90% of oropharyngeal cancers.
We have an incredible opportunity to eliminate these cancers and stop this epidemic, today.
In the UK, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is currently considering whether the current human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme should be extended beyond its current target group (12/13 year old girls).
We have assembled 22 organisations that have coalesced in a consortium called HPV Action (HPVA). HPV Action’s aim is for HPV vaccination to be provided on a gender-neutral basis; in other words, we wish to see the vaccination programme extended to 12/13 year old boys as well as girls. This would prevent many more cases of cancer (anal, cervical, vaginal, vulval, penile, and oropharyngeal) as well as genital warts and recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP).
The HPV and Anal Cancer Foundation has used advocacy successfully in the US to extend the HPV vaccination to males. In 2011, the Foundation led a coalition in petitioning the Centers for Disease Control Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in order to elevate the status of male HPV vaccination from permissive to routine. In October 2011, the ACIP voted in favour of routine HPV vaccinations for males. Since then, male vaccination rates in the US have risen from 1% to 21%. We hope to repeat this success in the UK, Europe, and beyond until HPV has been eradicated, globally.
ABOUT HPV ACTION
HPV Action is a collaborative partnership of 22 patient and professional organisations that are working to reduce the health burden of HPV.
HPVA’s members are:
British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, British Dental Health Foundation, Brook, Cancer Focus Northern Ireland, European Men’s Health Forum, Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare, Family Planning Association, GMFA (Gay Men’s Health Charity), HPV and Anal Cancer Foundation, MEDFASH (Medical Foundation for HIV and Sexual Health), Men’s Health Forum (England and Wales), Men’s Health Forum Ireland, Mouth Cancer Foundation, National Aids Manual, Oral Cancer Foundation (USA), Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Royal Society for Public Health , The School and Public Health Nurses Association, Terrence Higgins Trust, Throat Cancer Foundation, The Urology Foundation, Wellbeing of Women
