Giving boys, and not just girls, HPV vaccine key to eliminating cervical cancer, says HSE

Dr Lucy Jessop said: “We, in Ireland, have the gender-neutral programme so we vaccinate our boys as well as our girls, so that has in the modelling led to us decreasing the time when we will be able to eliminate cervical cancer.” Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

The inclusion of boys, as well as girls, in the HPV vaccination programme is a key reason why Ireland can target the eradication of cervical cancer by 2040, a HSE expert has said.

Health figures announced plans on Thursday to make the disease a rarity within two decades through an enhanced vaccination campaign. Dr Lucy Jessop, director of the National Immunisation Office, said vaccination against the HPV virus, which is the leading cause of cervical cancer, is vital.