British docs push HPV vaccine for gay boys

(Photo by Bill Branson for the National Cancer Institute via Wikimedia Commons)

BELFAST — Doctors with the British Medical Association are saying a national program in England to vaccinate young girls against HPV (human papilloma virus) should include gay men, the Belfast Telegraph reported in January.

The British Medical Association has written to Anna Soubry, England’s minister for Health, warning that there is an “alarming increase in anal cancer in gay men.” The Telegraph reported that anal cancer is rising one to three percent a year in “most developed countries.”

HPV vaccinations provide protection against the two most common strains of the virus, those that cause cervical and anal cancer, the report said.

In its letter, the Association cited a similar program they said has been effective in vaccinating 12- and 13-year-old boys in Australia and said they believe such a program in Great Britain would “be of enormous benefit in reducing the incidence of anal warts, anal pre-cancer and cancer.”

Association doctors said they realize it’s not economically feasible to offer it to all boys, but said young gay men up to the age of 21 attending sexual health clinics should be offered the vaccine, the Telegraph reported.