HPV vaccine for year 9 boys goes live

The Teenage Cancer Trust is urging policymakers to make the HPV vaccine available to all men and boys on the NHS.

It comes as the jab is introduced for year nine boys in schools across the UK today.

HPV can lead to cervical cancer in women but also many cancers in men.

The extended school vaccination programme to protect against the virus is now live, after calls for the injection to include 12 and 13 year-old boys.

It has been successful for teenage girls in recent years since it was introduced in Northern Ireland in 2008.

The Department of Health said the move could help make some HPV-related diseases 'a thing of the past.'

Speaking in April after the announcement, Chief Medical Officer Dr Michael McBride said:

"We can now look forward to a future where we can be even more confident that we will reduce cervical cancer and other HPV related cancers that affect both men and women.

"This is an effective vaccine against a particularly harmful virus. I would encourage all parents to take up this offer and ensure their boys and girls are vaccinated."

Human papillomavirus has many different strains- over 200.

The injection helps protect against the 13 most high risk HPV types which can lead to cancer.

Dr Gillian Prue from Queens University is a senior lecturer in chronic illness and has lobbied for the vaccination programme to be extended.

She told Downtown Cool FM it was a crucial move to help protect society:

"Historically it was always talked about as a cervical cancer vaccine because initially people associated the HPV virus with developing cervical cancer.

"But HPV is a sexually transmitted infection and so it affects boys as well as girls.

"We're seeing an increase in HPV-related head and neck cancer in men, it's on the rise so it's really important to get boys vaccinated."

While the vaccination programme for girls has been hugely successful with very high uptake, Dr Prue is hopeful that most teenage boys will also opt to have the jab:

"Parents can sometimes be hesitant about vaccines, there is a lot of misinformation out there about the safety of the HPV vaccine.

"It is the most widely tested vaccine worldwide, it's very safe.

"There's the usual side effects that might be associated with having a vaccine, maybe pain at the injection site but I would have no worries about the safety of the vaccine."

However, while the extended programme has been welcomed, the Teenage Cancer Trust is warning over a million boys in the UK could miss out on the jab, as it is not available to them on the NHS.

Policymakers say it is not necessary for everyone to be vaccinated as the new programme will help increase herd immunity.

The charity is calling for the injection to be made available to all teenage boys and young men for free.