Ontario HPV vaccine program expanded to include boys, Grade 7 students

By The Canadian Press

Boys in Ontario will soon be able to get the HPV vaccine in school under an expanded government program.

The Human Papillomavirus vaccine is currently offered for free to Grade 8 girls in Ontario schools.

Starting in September, the program is being expanded to students in Grade 7 and boys will be included too.

“Getting vaccinated at a young age is an important investment in long-term health,” said Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health. “By expanding Ontario’s routine, school-based HPV immunization program to include boys and offering the program a year earlier, the province will be protecting more youth from HPV-related cancers at an age when the vaccine can be most effective.”

The government says about 154,000 students will be eligible to receive the HPV vaccine each year.

HPV has been estimated to cause about 254 deaths and 1,090 cases of cancer every year in Ontario.

“The HPV vaccine gives us an opportunity to protect the next generation from cancer,” said Rowena Pinto of the Canadian Cancer Society. “Expanding the Ontario school-based HPV vaccination program to also include boys is an essential part of a comprehensive cancer prevention strategy.”

The government says HPV can cause different kinds of cancer in both females and males and experts recommend immunizing girls and boys between the ages of nine and 13.

Ontario now joins Alberta and Prince Edward Island in providing free vaccines to boys while Manitoba is scheduled to expand its program this fall.

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