Dental leaders urge Government to protect boys against HPV

With a gender-neutral approach to HPV vaccines on the agenda for the next meeting of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on June 6, dental leaders have written to Steve Brine MP, the minister for Public Health and Primary Care, to express their strong support for universal vaccination against the virus.

HPV has been linked to one in 20 cases of cancer in the UK, causing not only cervical cancers, but also cancers of the mouth and throat, penis and anus. HPV-caused throat cancers, which are rising sharply in incidence, are among the hardest to diagnose and treat and are twice as likely to affect men as women. Up to 80 per cent of sexually active people will be infected by HPV at some point in their lives.

The letter sets out the case for blanket immunisation against HPV and asserts it is morally indefensible to allow thousands of men to develop cancers which could be easily and cheaply prevented. It also suggests withholding the vaccine from boys while immunising girls might constitute gender discrimination under equality law.