Decision on HPV vaccination in hands of ministers
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- Published: Thursday, 19 July 2018 09:25
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The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has at last issued its report and advised extending immunisation to adolescent boys at the same age as girls. The Scottish and Welsh Governments have said they will implement the recommendation. In England the minister has said he will announce a decision ‘very soon’.
In a tweet public health minister Steve Brine MP - @BrineMinister – said: “I know there are strong views on this issue and am well aware of everyone’s concerns. Be assured I am looking at the advice carefully and will announce our decision very soon.”
The Minister told Parliament on May 2: “I cannot give the House an indication of when exactly a decision (on vaccinating boys) will be made, or what that decision might be, but I can say that I will prioritise consideration of the JCVI’s final advice as soon as I receive it.”
The JCVI’s previous advice indicated that to vaccinate boys would be “highly unlikely to be cost-effective in the UK, where uptake in adolescent girls is consistently high”. However, the committee’s new report says a combined vaccination programme is "highly likely to be cost-effective". The HPV vaccine is routinely offered to girls aged 12 to 13 at secondary school and is free up until they turn 18.
Public health bodies welcomed the JCVI’s report. The Royal Society for Public Health said it was "a victory for the public’s health". The BDA hailed it as a ‘breakthrough’. BDA Chair Mick Armstrong said: “Every year 400,000 boys have been left unprotected from the life-threatening conditions fuelled by HPV. Finally, all our children can benefit from a universal vaccination programme.
“Oral cancer claims more lives than car accidents, and men are twice as likely as women to develop it. Dentists are often the first to see the tell-tale signs, and have fought to see prevention put into practice.
“Too many children have missed out as government advisors have dragged their feet on extending the programme. Further delay will only cost lives. Health professionals expect swift rollout of a national programme.”
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