Boys in their first year of secondary school in Ireland will be offered the HPV vaccine for the first time.
An injection that protects against four different types of HPV is already available to girls in the same year.
And the scheme has now been extended following recommendations by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA).
HPV is most well-known for causing cervical cancer in women.
However, Chief Executive of the Irish Cancer Society Averil Power said the infection can also cause penile cancer, anal cancer and head and neck cancers in both neck and women.
She told Morning Ireland on RTE Radio One: "HPV is an incredibly common virus - 80% of us will be infected at some stage.
"For most people your immune system will clear it, but for many it doesn't, and as a result we lose 130 people, men and women in Ireland every year that die from HPV related cancers."
Ms Power urged all parents to ensure their children got the vaccine, citing the incredible impact similar schemes have had in Australia.
She added: "We want every parent to have the opportunity to get it for a girl or boy, particularly under 15, but even if you have to go to your GP, we would urge parents to do that, because we have an opportunity here, and it's really quite remarkable to eliminate a whole form of cancer.
"Even where treatment is successful, the consequences for your life of some of these cancers can be really horrific. Many women with cervical cancer will find that their treatment has made them infertile or extremely difficult to have a family, or other physical impacts.
"It's really important, the vaccine is safe, it's effective, it's recommended by the World Health Organisation.
"Australia was the first country to vaccinate girls in 2007, and what they're now seeing in women in their 20s is that they don't have HPV, they're not seeing the pre-cancers that would go on to cause cancers in those women later in life. That for us is really quite remarkable".
