Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number of boys who would be eligible to receive the HPV vaccination under a catch-up programme for cohorts since 2008.

In July 2018, it was announced that the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine will be extended to boys aged 12-13 years in England. It is expected that the HPV vaccination programme will be extended to boys from the 2019/20 school year. This decision is based on advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, the independent body that advises United Kingdom health departments on immunisation.

It has been decided not to have a catch up programme for older boys as evidence suggests they are already benefitting greatly from the substantial indirect protection (herd protection) which has built up from 10 years of the girls’ HPV vaccination programme.

The priority is to implement the routine programme effectively, to ensure that coverage in boys approaches that achieved in girls.