Australia launches national scheme to vaccinate boys against HPV

Source: BMJ Area: News According to a BMJ news report, Australia has started to vaccinate boys against human papillomavirus (HPV), making it the first country in the world to publicly fund HPV vaccination of this group, in a bid to protect against genital warts and anal, penile, and throat cancers. Starting in February, they will receive three doses of the quadrivalent vaccine Gardasil at ages 12-13, as part of a national, federally funded school based programme. A catch-up scheme will also run for 14-15 year old boys until the end of the school year in 2014. It will cost the federal government £13.8m over four years, including an information campaign, vaccine register, and adverse event monitoring.
Source: NeLM - News - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: news