Oral Health Foundation commends decision to give boys HPV vaccine

The charity believes the decision, which has been under consideration since 2013, will lead to many lives being saved due to the vaccination’s ability to prevent HPV related mouth cancer, as well as other life-threatening diseases.

Under the current programme almost 400,000 boys go unvaccinated every year, which has millions at risk of developing HPV related cancers later in life – cancers which are on the increase.

Nigel Carter, CEO of the Oral Health Foundation, discussed this momentous ruling, “This decision has been an incredibly long time coming and is one we firmly believe will be a significant moment in the ongoing battle against many types of cancer in the UK.

“This decision brings to an end what has been a dangerously discriminatory and unfair HPV vaccination programme in Britain which has left millions of boys and men unprotected from the biggest sexually transmitted infection in the world.

“HPV is one of the leading causes of mouth cancer; but now we hope that with the swift implementation of the vaccination programme we will see a significant reduction in these numbers.