The Irish Cancer Society is encouraging more men and boys to get the HPV vaccine.
The campaign follows the release of new research by MSD Ireland, which revealed that almost two thirds of Irish adults are not sure what HPV is. The HPV vaccine is offered to incoming secondary schools students every autumn, male and female, in order to protect against the highly transmissible virus.
Rachel Morrogh, director of advocacy with the Irish Cancer Society, told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that the charity is hoping for an increased uptake in the vaccine this year, particularly amongst boys.
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She said: “There are a total of 400 HPV related cancers diagnosed every year in Ireland. We want to raise awareness amongst men that it can cause cancers of the mouth and throat, as well as the anus and penis. These cancers are a lot rarer than cervical cancer, but their association with HPV makes them preventable.”
The vaccine protects against the highly transmissible HPV, which is responsible for the majority of cervical cancer cases and about 1 in 20 of all cancers worldwide. The vaccine was first rolled out to female secondary school students in Ireland back in 2010 and was later extended to male students in 2019.
MSD Ireland’s research was completed to discover people’s attitudes towards HPV and the vaccine that protects against it. There were over 1000 participants in the study, of whom per cent believed HPV was rare in Ireland.
Rachel added that the Irish Cancer Society was attempting to raise awareness partially as a result of the survey’s findings. She told listeners that it was important for parents to be informed on the topic prior to their children receiving the vaccine.
She said: “We know that increased awareness will lead to increased uptake of the vaccine amongst first year students. We are directing parents towards the Irish Cancer Society’s support client if they do have questions about the vaccinations and the HPV website, where they can get evidence based resources.”
Only 6 per cent of recipients correctly identified HPV as being highly transmissible, although over two thirds of recipients agreed that it was important to have a vaccine available for the virus. Almost all sexually active adults will contract HPV at some point in their lifetime, although an infection will generally go away on its own.
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