Dentists ‘overwhelmingly support introduction of HPV vaccination for boys’

The vast majority of UK dentists believe the government should extend the current programme for human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccinations to include boys as well as girls.

A new survey carried out by HPV Action has indicated that 97 percent of dentists – as well as 94 percent of GPs – would have their own sons vaccinated against HPV, with the same percentages believing the national HPV vaccination programme should cover both genders.

The government’s vaccination advisory committee is currently considering whether boys should be given the HPV vaccination, or whether such an intervention would be deemed too expensive to be cost-effective.

It is estimated that vaccinating boys would cost 20 to 22 million pounds a year, whereas treating HPV-related cancers and warts can be much more expensive, with an estimated 57.1 million pounds spent treating head and neck cancer in England alone.

Currently, it is argued that the girls' vaccination programme indirectly protects boys, but this fails to take into account men who have sex with other men or unvaccinated women.

Mick Armstrong, chair of the BDA's principal executive committee, said: "It is morally indefensible to allow people to contract cancer when prevention – the new NHS mantra – could be so cheap and easy."

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