Cancer Prevention – The HPV Vaccine for Boys Is Late – Health

Immunization against carcinogenic viruses is now also recommended in boys. Anyone wondering should wonder why the responsibility has been imposed so long only on girls?

The recommendation is official since a few days: in the future, boys will also be vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV). Immunization protects against cancer of the cervix of the uterus, but also against a number of more rare carcinomas, such as the penis or the oral cavity. 50,000 cases of cancer could be prevented in the next 100 years, even if only one in five would be vaccinated, calculates the Standing Committee on Immunization.

Every year of health gained by boys' vaccinations, the society would be less than 30,000 Euro cost. This is a reasonable sum. In addition, the syringe, which is now also intended for boys from 9 to 14 years old, has proved very safe, contrary to what is often feared.

A recommendation for vaccination has been awaited for a long time. The question should not be: boys? Really? On the contrary, why has protection against dangerous viruses been so long alone imposed on girls? Of course, boys are less at risk of having a tumor based on HPV infection. Only very personal risk badessment is not a sufficient argument for immunization. This often leads to Krämerrechnungen who always comes out the same: penile cancer? Measles? Rubella? – I'm not scared, so I do not vaccinate.

But if you talk about vaccinations, you have to pay the bills for the whole society. It means recognizing that protection against badually transmitted infections is not a woman's impetus somewhere in the mysterious realm of gynecology. Boys and men transmit pathogens and are therefore equally responsible for the health of their partners.

Australia shows how society can benefit from protection. School vaccination programs have increased vaccination rates to more than 70 percent – in both bades. HPV infections have become so rare that Australian health experts are already spreading optimism: their country could be the first to conquer cervical cancer forever.

Such goals are utopian for Germany. The vaccination rate of girls is currently about 45% lower. And the Immunization Commission does not expect it to increase rapidly. It's shameful. The link between viruses and cancer has already been discovered in Germany. Harald zur Hausen paved the way for the HPV vaccine and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine ten years ago. A great success It is time that Germany finally uses it.