UK Health Radio – Medical News Update
on the Hour
Vaccination
for men who have sex with men planned.
The BBC have reported that a vaccine to prevent
cancer as well as anal and genital warts should be given to men who have sex
with men, according to government experts.
The
HPV jab is already given to schoolgirls in the UK, but there have been calls
for the vaccination programme to be extended.
The
Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said immunising gay
men would
be cost effective while campaigners said the government
was still leaving boys at risk. HPV (human papillomavirus) is linked to 5% of
all cancers worldwide.
Girls
are vaccinated at the age of 12 or 13 to reduce their risk of cervical cancer,
which is largely caused by the virus.
But
HPV also causes cancers of the throat, anus and penis as well as causing
genital warts. There are 48,000 cases of genital warts diagnosed in UK men
every year.
The
JCVI's latest report recommends offering the jab at sexual health clinics to men
who have sex with men, aged between 16 and 40.
It
says: "Although such a programme would be very likely to prevent HPV
associated cancers in men who have sex with men, the model had indicated that
an even more substantial benefit could be realised from the prevention of
ano-genital warts."
A
full analysis of the merits for vaccinated adolescent boys will not start until
next year although the committee noted that the success of the girls
vaccination programme would "provide indirect protection for boys to such
an effect that there may be little additional benefit to be accrued from
vaccinating most boys".
The
group says the move "will not protect the majority" of men who have
sex with men if it is offered only at sexual health clinics.
The
government said it would wait for a direct recommendation by the JCVI before
responding.
The
BBC reported Shirley Cramer, the chief executive of the Royal Society for
Public Health, as saying: "While extending the vaccination to men who have
sex with men is a positive step, we implore the committee to reach a decision
and introduce a vaccination for all boys.
"Vaccinating
men who have sex with men still leaves a significant proportion of the
population at risk of HPV and vaccinating all girls and boys is the only way
forward."
Amanda Thomas
UK Health Radio – Medical News Update on the Hour
Kindly sponsored by 1-stop-health-shop.com
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.