JCVI decides not to give boys the HPV vaccine

The JCVI have decided that boys do not need to receive the HPV vaccine while girls should continue to do so.

It has been announced today that the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) have decided that boys do not have to receive Gardasil vaccine that helps prevent Human papilloma virus or HPV.

Gardasil started being distributed to girls between the ages of 12 and 15 back in 2006 and since then cases of HPV has dropped drastically but in many countries across the world it is only the girls that are given the vaccine and it seems that may very well continue in the UK. With the JCVI feeling that giving the vaccine to boys is not a good way of using NHS resources.

Mary Ramsay, head of immunization at Public Health England, said: “Evidence from around the world suggests that the risk of HPV infection in males is dramatically reduced by achieving high uptake of the HPV vaccine among girls.

“While there are some additional benefits to vaccinating both males and females, the current models indicate that extending the programme to boys in the UK, where the uptake in adolescent girls is consistently high (over 85%), would not represent a good use of NHS resources.”

Let’s give a little information about HPV.

Human papilloma virus (HPV) is the name for a group of viruses that affect your skin and the moist membranes lining your body.

Examples of this include your:

• cervix
• anus
• mouth and throat

There are more than 100 types of HPV. Around 30 types of HPV infection can affect the genital area.

Genital HPV infections are common and highly contagious. They are spread during sexual intercourse and skin-to-skin contact of the genital areas.

Effects of HPV

Infection with some types of genital HPV can cause:

• Genital warts which is the second most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) in England
• abnormal tissue growth and other changes to cells within your cervix which can sometimes lead to cervical cancer.

That being stated, why would you not protect as many people as you could with a vaccine?

Thankfully at the moment JCVI’s decision is at this point only a initial recommendation which is now subject to public consultation and a final decision shall be made come this October. There are also people fighting to have this vaccine distributed to both genders.

The British Dental Association said it would urge the committee to reconsider the evidence.

The chair of the BDA, Mick Armstrong has stated “HPV has emerged as the leading cause of oropharyngeal cancers, so JCVI’s unwillingness to expand the vaccination programme to boys is frankly indefensible.”

Shirley Cramer of the Royal Society for Public Health said: “We are deeply disappointed by the JCVI’s decision today, which suggests that fundamental priorities are focused more on saving money than on saving lives.Such a simple vaccination programme has the potential to make such a big impact on the public’s health on a national scale. We hope that the government’s advisory committee reconsider this decision as soon as possible and put the public’s health and well being before cost-saving.”

The Argument to Vaccinate Boys

• Not all girls that are eligible to receive the vaccines are actually having them which means boys are more exposed to catching HPV.
• Men may have sexual intercourse with women that are too old to receive the vaccine.
• Men may have sex with women from countries that do not distribute the vaccine.
• Men who have sex with men will not be protected by the girls vaccine and in this case would be protecting themselves and other men.
• The cost of treating HPV diseases is far higher than preventing the virus would be. It is estimated to cost £20million a year to vaccinate boys.