Vaccinate the boys if you really want to fight HPV

This is an often sketched picture: the young woman lying with her legs in the operating room. And the smell of burnt tissue that fills the room while a closed pot with a piece of the uterus is carried out of the room. The doctor looks at her compassionately and thinks: "This could have been avoided with the HPV vaccine."

An image sketched less often is that of the man who is a few pieces away. The hot air is the same, just like the sealed pot. In his case with a piece of tissue from his penis.

A problem of women? not really

In the media, the human papillomavirus vaccine is presented primarily as a problem for and for women. Mothers whose daughters are vaccinated and doctors are diametrically opposed to mothers who do not want their daughters vaccinated. We hardly ever talk about boys.

Governmental institutions also claim that HPV only affects women. The National Institute of Public Health and the Environment indicates on its website that the vaccine was initially "made to reduce the number of cases of cervical cancer. […] Only girls are vaccinated because only girls have a uterus. "

HPV is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and, like all STDs, is also a problem for men, and is passed on to women. And to other men.

And not just women are fed up with this STD HPV virus can also lead to cancer of the anus, mouth or throat. men contract penile cancer every year, in a quarter to a third of cases, there is an HPV infection.But boys do not have the chance to protect themselves against this virus.

Vaccination is also effective in boys

n 2008, following a Health Council report, i It was decided that boys would not be vaccinated with the hvv vaccine because research on the effectiveness of vaccination would be inadequate. Now, 10 years later, extensive research shows that the hvv vaccine is equally effective and safe in boys. In the United States, for example, all children are vaccinated. In Britain, a government government advises Friday to also vaccinate boys.

This mother explains in a letter why she did not vaccinate her daughters

For all other vaccinations, such as mumps and measles, the National Vaccination Program recommends a minimum coverage of 90% . This is only while so-called group immunity, so that unvaccinated people are at least at risk. At present, 55% of girls in the Netherlands have been vaccinated. Because boys are not vaccinated, this represents about 27% of all 13 year old boys and girls. And even if all the girls had to be vaccinated, the boys are not safe. Boys can also transfer the virus to each other.

Whose fault is it when a boy has cancer with HPV?

The message to parents who do not want their daughter vaccinated against HPV is "If your daughter gets sick, it's your fault". But what about the son of these parents? And the sons of the parents who vaccinated their daughters? Who is guilty of developing cancer due to the HPV virus?

By not offering HPV vaccines to boys, the image is created incorrectly that they are not part of the problem or its solution. Why not try to completely eliminate high-risk HPV types by vaccinating boys too?

Naomi Donner, Pathologist and Researcher