Gay men are to be offered vaccination against the cancer-causing human papilloma virus (HPV) as part of a Government-backed programme.
Following the success of a 2016 pilot scheme the jab will now be offered to men who have sex with men and are aged 45 or under, when they attend sexual health testing from April.
While girls aged 11 to 13 have been offered the HPV jab since 2008, primarily to lower their risk of developing cervical cancer in later life, it is not routinely offered to boys.
This is because men have a lower overall risk of HPV-linked cancers, and they gain some protection from HPV by girls receiving the jab, as it is less likely to be passed on during sex.
However gay men do not benefit from this indirect protection and the pilot, which ran in 42 sexual health centres, identified that a national vaccination programme would be cost effective.
HPV is chiefly associated with cervical cancer in women, but is also a cause of oral cancers, which have risen 30 per cent since the early 1990s with two thirds of cases in men, according to Cancer Research UK.
The viruses are sexually transmitted and affect the skin and the moist membranes in the mouth, cervix and anus. They are responsible for 90 per cent of genital warts infections.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has recognised increasing evidence of the association between HPV infection and non-cervical cancers on men who have sex with men.
However men should not contact their clinics for it as it will be rolled out gradually and should be offered when available as part of a routine sexual health check-up.
Dr Michael Edelstein, consultant epidemiologist at Public Health England said: “Our evidence shows that men who have sex with men are welcoming an HPV vaccination programme, and it can be delivered successfully through sexual health services.
“[This group] receive little indirect protection from the adolescent girls’ vaccination programme. We expect the new programme to reduce the number of cancers that are directly caused by HPV.”
