Government advisers have said the HPV vaccine offered to girls aged 12 or 13 to help protect them against cervical cancer should also be available to men who have sex with men.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommends three doses for men aged up to 45 who attend clinics specialising in treating HIV and genitourinary conditions. There should be no lower age limit, it says.
Male prisoners who have sex with men and transgender women should also be offered the vaccine, said the committee, adding that its advice depends on procurement of the vaccine and any immunisation programme being cost-effective.
The committee said the complex commissioning arrangements involving specialist clinics could be challenging. While sexual health is the responsibility of local government, the NHS is responsible for commissioning primary care and national vaccination programmes.
The JCVI also said there may be considerable benefit in offering the vaccine to others deemed to be at risk, including some men over 45, sex workers and HIV-positive men and women. But this could happen on a case-by-case basis, since clinicians can already offer vaccinations beyond the limits of national programmes.
The committee began looking at the issue of expanding HPV provision to boys and men two years ago, and had already indicated support for offering it to men who have sex with men to help cut the risk of anal, penile and throat cancers.
They will begin considering the wider question of whether all adolescent boys should be offered the vaccine in 2017. There has previously been debate over whether this would be cost effective since the take-up by girls has been so good.
Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunisation of Public Health England, said: “MSM are a group who receive little indirect protection from the adolescent girls vaccination programme.
“The HPV vaccination programme has achieved high coverage in girls with more than 8 million doses of vaccine given in the UK, with close to 90% of eligible teenagers vaccinated. All girls aged 12 to 13 are encouraged to take up HPV vaccination when offered as part of the NHS childhood vaccination programme.”
John Ashton, president of the Faculty of Public Health, said: “This decision is excellent news … When it comes to protecting children and adults against cancer, we must base our decisions on the evidence, not moral judgments.
“That is why there is still more to be done. All boys should also receive this vaccine: we believe it cannot be right to withhold an effective health intervention from a section of the population simply on the grounds of its sex.”
The JCVI advises all the health departments in the UK. A spokesperson for the Department of Health in England, said: “The HPV vaccination programme for girls is really important and expected to prevent hundreds of deaths from cervical cancer every year.
“We welcome this advice on the benefits and complexities of extending the programme to other groups and will consider the JCVI’s advice carefully and confirm our plans in due course.”