The New Caledonian government approved, Thursday, July 21, a draft congressional deliberation to extend the HPV vaccination to boys between the ages of 9 and 14. These injections will be free. The goal is to improve vaccination coverage.
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While half of New Caledonia’s youth are already vaccinated against the human papillomavirus, the human papillomavirus, the New Caledonian government wants to speed things up. He plans to extend the vaccination to boys between the ages of 9 and 14. The text of these lines was validated on Thursday, July 21.
“This deliberation will allow 100% vaccination coverage against HPV to all individuals, girls and boys, from 9 years old to 14 years old.”Frédérique Ducrocq, pharmacist inspector at the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs (Dass-NC) confirms. “Previously, this 100% support was only for young girls aged 11-14”, she completes. This vaccination program was established in 2011 by the Colleges Health and Social Agency since 2015. Catch-up is done up to the age of 19 in schools.
With this improvement in care, the coverage rate for boys should increase in the coming years. Currently, men account for nearly a quarter of HPV-related cancers.
“In fact, boys are also affected by other types of cancer, as we are increasingly discovering the impact of HPV behind it, especially anal cancer and pharyngeal cancer. This also affects boys.”says Tanya Felipe, head of the Female Cancer Screening Program at the Health and Social Agency. Nearly 25% of cancers caused by HPV affect men, according to a press release from the New Caledonian government.
In other countries, vaccination against HPV has already achieved results. In Australia, nearly 80% of young people have endorsed their plan. The country expects it to disappear by 2035.
After being approved by the government, the draft will soon be submitted to a vote in Congress. The next HPV vaccination campaign will be implemented in 2023 in schools. As a reminder, vaccination remains subject to parental authorization.
