Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will trial the HPV vaccination programme for men who have sex with men in selected sexual health clinics to assess likely take up and budgetary implications.

The Government is advised on all immunisation matters by the independent expert body, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). At its February 2015 meeting, the JCVI endorsed the view of its human papilloma virus (HPV) Sub-committee. This was that, in response to the results of the stakeholder consultation it conducted on its provisional advice on HPV vaccination for men who have sex with men (MSM), and before giving its final advice, it should wait for Public Health England’s (PHE) modelling team to incorporate all the necessary changes and sensitivity analyses agreed following the consultation and the peer review.

PHE estimates that this additional work would take several months, meaning the JCVI may not be in a position to re-consider its position until its meeting in October 2015. A final statement will be issued by the JCVI following the completion of these additional analyses and the development of a final position by the Committee.

There are two north London genito-urinary medicine (GUM) clinics that have trialled offering HPV vaccination for MSM (initially those under 28 years old) since November 2012, and which now offer vaccination as an ongoing service. This work has measured the uptake and acceptability of HPV vaccination and observed the effect on other sexual health outcomes in this population. Findings to date have demonstrated high uptake rates for the vaccine and will be considered by the JCVI.

We are doing preliminary work with stakeholders to assess likely uptake and budgetary implications in anticipation of JCVI’s final advice.