A debate within the medical community in the United States is beginning to take hold regarding the vaccination of boys against HPV. Girls are regularly vaccinated in the US and UK using either Gardasil or Cervarix because of the high risk of developing cervical cancer.

The HPV family of viruses can cause genital warts and some types of cancers, including but not limited to, cervical cancer. The virus is spread through skin to skin contact. Gardasil has been licensed in the US for treatment in boys to protect them against genital warts and penile and rectal cancers. Although Gardasil is not licensed for this purpose in the UK, some doctors are prepared to prescribe it “off license” for these purposes. Most of my reasonably well off gay friends have been to a private clinic in Harley Street to have the Gardasil vaccination as MSM (men who have sex with men) tend to be more prone to rectal cancers. Many people who have had the vaccination and who previously suffered regular outbreaks of genital warts have recorded a noticeable improvement by way of a reduction of outbreaks.

The debate going on in the US on this subject relates to cost in relation to benefits. The benefits are clear: men who have been vaccinated will be protected against certain of the human papillomaviruses that cause genital warts and certain type of cancers but moreover, they will not be passing the virus on to female partners which would otherwise put them at a higher risk of developing cervical cancer. The question is would a mass vaccination policy contribute in a meaningful way to the overall incidence of high risk HPV infections that can cause certain types of cancers? Where you can afford to pay the large cost of this vaccination then it is a “no brainer” but from a public policy perspective in the UK, there is no way that this sort of mass vaccination programme for boys will ever be sanctioned.