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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

HPV vaccine for boys 'will prevent thousands of cancers' [bbc.com]

[UK] health officials say the HPV vaccine for 12 to 13-year-old boys, starting after the summer, will prevent 29,000 cancers in UK men in the next 40 years. The boys will be eligible from the start of the new school year, 11 years after girls were first vaccinated.

The jab protects against human papilloma virus, which causes many oral, throat and anal cancers.

[...] Why are boys now getting the jab? Because the programme to vaccinate teenage girls, and reduce cervical cancers, has proved very successful.

There has been a reduction in HPV infections, genital warts and pre-cancerous growths in teenage girls and young women since the vaccine was introduced. Other groups, like teenage boys, have seen benefits too because the virus is not being passed on to them. To protect boys even more, and reduce cancers of the anus, penis and head and neck in the future, health experts say they should be offered the HPV vaccine too.

Also at The Guardian [theguardian.com] and The Telegraph [telegraph.co.uk].

Original Submission