Hiqa to assess if HPV jab should be extended to boys

The State’s health watchdog is assessing whether boys should be vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV), a highly contagious virus spread through sexual contact.

Ireland has a nationally funded, school-based girls-only HPV immunisation programme that started in 2010.

HPV is the virus that causes cervical cancer in woman. But it has also been shown to be associated with anal, genital and throat cancer in both males and females.