From Sept. 1, eighth-grade boys, as well as girls, are to be eligible for free human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines, the Taipei City Government said yesterday.
The Taipei Department of Health in December last year announced a plan to expand vaccine eligibility to boys this year.
Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) yesterday announced the launch of the program.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Medical studies have found that about 80 percent of sexually active men and women would contract HPV at least once in their lifetime, Chiang said, adding that HPV increases the risk of cervical cancer in women, and head and neck cancers in men.
The WHO suggests girls under the age of 15 should be the primary targets for HPV vaccination, while boys are secondary targets, he said.
The city government increased the budget to include junior-high school boys, with vaccines available on campus, Chiang said.
Boys who enrolled in the city’s junior-high schools in the 2023 school year would be covered, and approximately 10,000 of them are to benefit from the policy, the health department said.
While women can undergo regular pap smears for early detection and treatment of cervical cancer, most men are asymptomatic if they have HPV and do not receive regular screenings, so getting the vaccine is the best prevention method, National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) vice superintendent Lou Pei-jen (婁培人) said.
Aside from an increased risk of developing certain cancers, HPV can also cause genital warts, which are not life-threatening, but might cause psychological distress, NTUH pediatrician Lee Ping-ing (李秉穎) said.
The health department plans to invite experts to hold lectures at the city’s junior-high schools starting this month, to increase students’ awareness and willingness to get vaccinated, and work with schools to provide informational leaflets and consent forms for parents before vaccination begins, department Commissioner Chen Yen-yuan (陳彥元) said.
Students who are unable to get the shots when vaccination stations are set up at their schools can bring a letter to contracted hospitals in the city to receive one later, he added.
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