Sep 24

Boys, Men and HPV at the World Cancer Congress

Last week at the UICC's World Cancer Congress in Geneva, we launched a new report ‘Boys, Men and HPV: A global call for gender-neutral HPV vaccination’ in partnership with Global Action on Men’s Health, which calls for a new global goal of GNV in every country by 2030. This captures the evidence and knowledge shared with us by influential public health leaders and policymakers, at our side event at the World Health Assembly back in May.

We have the means to protect everyone, regardless of sex or gender, from HPV infections and the cancers they cause. Achieving this requires a more ambitious, ethical, and equitable approach to HPV vaccination at global and national levels.

Already endorsed by 22 organisations from around the globe, our 6 recommendations for global and national stakeholders are:

1. HPV must be understood, and responded to, as a threat to the health of all sexes and genders.

2. GNV should be viewed from the perspective of its potential to eliminate high-risk, oncogenic HPV types, thereby accelerating the elimination of not only cervical cancer but also all the cancers caused by HPV.

3. By 2028, global policymakers should have reviewed the issue of GNV with a view to recommending its implementation. WHO should make boys a primary target for HPV vaccination.

4. By 2030, all countries currently without an HPV vaccination programme should have introduced HPV vaccination on a gender-neutral basis while countries currently with a girls-only programme should have transitioned to GNV.

5. Health partnerships between countries with established GNV programmes and lower-income countries should be established along with capacity-building initiatives to support the wider implementation of GNV.

6. A greater focus is needed on increasing vaccine uptake to at least 90% for all, a target most likely to be achieved through school-based vaccination programmes.

Gender-neutral vaccination is not a novel concept. Updating WHO policy to recognise the importance of protecting both boys and girls would act as a catalyst to strengthen and accelerate progress towards the elimination of all HPV cancers.

We are grateful to our panellists at the World Cancer Congress for their insights and expertise