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Some advocates are calling for
Ontario to provide boys with free vaccination against human papillomavirus,
though questions remain about whether doing so would be cost-effective.
Eighth-grade girls get the HPV shots
free, but boys’ parents must pay $400 (US $405) or rely on private drug plan
coverage. Last month, the Cancer Advocacy Coalition of Canada called for
provinces to extend free HPV vaccination to boys.
Annually, there are 127 penile cancer
cases among men in Canada, 208 anal cancer cases, 853 cancers of the oral
cavity, and 84 cancers of the oropharynx, according to the National Advisory
Committee on Immunization. NACI in January recommended Gardasil for males ages
nine to 26 “for the prevention of anal intraepithelial neoplasia, anal cancer,
and anogenital warts.” NACI also asked provinces to evaluate whether including
boys is preferable to promoting the shots to increase acceptance among females.
In Ontario, vaccine uptake among
girls was 59 percent in 2009-10. So far this year in Ottawa, 75 percent of
girls have received the first of three required doses. Studies have found it is
not cost-effective to vaccinate boys if uptake among girls is “relatively
high,” around 80 percent, said Dr. Shelly Deeks, Public Health Ontario’s
medical director of Immunization and Vaccine Preventable Diseases.
If the HPV vaccine were inexpensive,
like the $2-a-shot measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine, “it would be an easy
decision, as the vaccine is effective in boys,” said Deeks. “Unfortunately, it
is a costly vaccine.” “The Minister of Health will need to be making a decision
for Ontario whether boys need to be included in a publicly funded vaccination
campaign,” she said.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
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