HPV Vaccinations

Baroness Altmann Excerpts

Monday 26th March 2018 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Altmann]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the recent decision to offer HPV vaccinations to gay men, whether they plan to provide HPV vaccinations to all boys; and if so, when.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Lord O'Shaughnessy) (Con)]

My Lords, following a consultation, our expert group, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, is reviewing the evidence for vaccinating adolescent boys against HPV. We are awaiting its final advice, and it is important not to pre-empt the decision of the joint committee.

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Altmann (Con)]

I thank my noble friend for his reply. HPV-related oral cancers are the fastest-growing type of malignancy and affect thousands of men each year. Recent studies suggest that the vaccination of boys is cost effective, and I congratulate the Government on their decision to vaccinate gay men. Does not my noble friend agree, however, that the only way in which to protect men directly is to vaccinate them before they become sexually active, as they already do in many countries, including Australia, Canada, Austria or the United States? Would he also agree that we have a duty and responsibility to protect these boys, rather than leaving them vulnerable to potentially fatal cancers when it will be too late for them to do anything about it, because we neglected them when young?

[Lord O'Shaughnessy]

My noble friend makes an important point, that vaccinations against the HPV virus brings wider health benefits beyond defending against cervical cancers. It is important to state that it is not my judgment that matters here but that of our expert group, and in its interim advice it did not recommend an extension of the HPV programme to boys as being cost effective, not least because of the high levels of immunity and uptake among girls, with the indirect benefit that that has. But that was its interim advice; the final advice is being considered at the moment, and I can tell the House that that advice and the underlying assumptions on cost benefit will be published when the decision is made.