Teenagers in Wales will now receive just one dose of the HPV vaccination. The change comes as recent evidence shows that one dose of the human papillomavirus vaccine offers just as much protection as two doses.
The change follows advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccine and Immunisation published in August last year that one dose was just as effective as two doses. From September 2023 all children will be offered one dose of the HPV vaccine before their 15th birthday.
Public Health Wales confirmed that the vaccination programme in Wales will move to the one-dose policy and urged anyone eligible to take up the offer of the vaccine. The vaccine is one of the most successful advancements against preventing cancer in recent years.
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The vaccine works to prevent HPV, which is the cause of almost all cervical cancers. The vaccine was first rolled out in the UK in 2008 in a three-dose programme and it has dramatically reduced cervical cancer rates by almost 90% in women in their 20s who were first offered the vaccine at age 12 to 13. According to a study published in the Lancet the combination of the HPV vaccine and cervical cancer screening could reduce the rate of cervical cancer to the point where almost no-one develops it.
In 2020 the vaccine was rolled out to boys of the same age and it was also extended in Wales in 2017 to gay men aged 16 to 45who attend sexual health clinics. HPV can also cause cancer in the throat and anus so the offer to boys and men was a welcomed advancement. By offering it to boys it also helps improve population immunity and reduce cervical cancers as a result.
Chris Johnson, head of the vaccine preventable disease programme at Public Health Wales, said: "“The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has issued new guidance on the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme recommending that one dose of the vaccine provides excellent protection.
“Welsh Government has provided further details regarding rollout of the HPV one-dose programme and Public Health Wales will support health boards to deliver the programme across secondary schools in Wales. We advise everyone eligible to take up the offer of the vaccine. The HPV vaccine is highly effective at protecting against cancers caused by HPV including cervical cancer."
The guidance recommends that one dose should be offered routinely for those vaccinated before their 25th birthday and a two-dose schedule for those after their 25th birthday if they have not been vaccinated before. Those who are immunosuppressed and known to be HIV-positive should be offered three doses.
