New initiative launched to tackle awareness of HPV diseases in men

Jabs for the Boys aims to improve public education about HPV and the HPV vaccination, following new research which points to a startling lack of knowledge about the infection, particularly in relation to British men.

The new initiative follows a nationwide study which found fewer than one in eight (12 per cent) adults identify HPV with diseases that affect men – such as head and neck, anal and penile cancer – and are more than twice as likely to associate the infection with cervical cancer (27 per cent).

HPV is responsible for around 5 per cent of all cancers worldwide, and also genital warts, in both sexes.

Worryingly, the poll reveals more than one in three (34 per cent) British men believe themselves not to be at risk of HPV.

HPV Action, a collaborative partnership of 48 patient and professional organisations that are working to reduce the health burden of the infection, is concerned that a lack of awareness about HPV could be putting boys and men at risk of several potentially life-threatening diseases.