The Netherlands Offers HPV Vaccines to All Adolescents

The Netherlands-based Public health institute RIVM confirmed on January 31, 2022, children ten years of age and older would be invited to get vaccinated against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV).

"Vaccinating both boys and girls contribute to the creation of herd immunity," said Jeanne-Marie Hament, RIVM program manager of the National Immunization Program, in a news article.

The RIVM previously offered the HPV vaccine to teenage girls and older to protect them against vagina-, labia-, and cervix cancer.

But new research shows that HPV can also cause cancer in boys and men.

"After advice from the Health Council, we are now starting to offer the HPV vaccination to boys. In this way, they are also protected against HPV cancer," added Hament.

Annually, almost 400 men in the Netherlands get cancer from HPV.

However, about 80% of these cancer cases can be prevented with the HPV vaccination, according to the RIVM.

The Netherlands' National Vaccination Immunisation Programme uses a vaccine called Cervarix®.