Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when vaccinations for human papillomavirus for men who have sex with men will be implemented.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the independent expert body that advises the Government on all immunisation matters agreed at its October meeting that further consultation was needed with stakeholders before finalising its advice to ministers on the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination of men who have sex with men (MSM). It held a stakeholder consultation between 12 November and 7 January and we understand that the JCVI considered the outcome of the consultation at its meeting on 4 February 2015, as it reviewed its provisional advice on MSM.

Any implementation of an HPV MSM vaccination programme will be dependent on the JCVI’s final advice. We look forward to receiving the JCVI’s final advice in due course.