Statement on HPV vaccination

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is an expert scientific advisory committee which advises the UK Government on matters relating to vaccination and immunisation.

2. In 2008 following a detailed review of the impact and cost-effectiveness of a routine HPV vaccination programme in adolescents aimed at reducing the burden of HPV-associated cervical cancer, JCVI recommended a universal programme of HPV vaccination in girls aged 12-13 years in schools.

3. At that time the Committee considered that high coverage in girls would provide herd protection to boys, and that vaccination of boys would generate little additional benefit to the prevention of cervical cancer, which was the main aim of the programme.

4. JCVI keeps the eligibility criteria of all vaccination programmes under review and has been considering whether the HPV programme should be gender-neutral, because of strengthening evidence on the efficacy of HPV vaccination in preventing a number of non-cervical cancers.

5. JCVI has been reviewing the evidence for vaccinating boys since 2013. The Committee issued an interim statement for consultation on 19 July 2017. The consultation ran for six weeks. The JCVI Interim Statement on Extending HPV Vaccination to Adolescent Boys can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/jcvi-statement-extending-the-hpv-vaccination-programme

6. At that time the findings of cost-effectiveness analyses provided to the Committee predicted that extending the HPV programme to adolescent boys would not be a cost-effective use of health service resources in the UK setting. JCVI’s interim advice was that taking the evidence as a whole it was unable to recommend extension of the national HPV programme to adolescent boys.

7. JCVI met on the 4 October 2017 to discuss the responses from stakeholders to its consultation together with updated results on the impact and cost-effectiveness of vaccinating boys.

8. In February 2018 JCVI agreed that it needed to see additional analyses before concluding its advice.

9. The HPV sub-committee met on 18 May 2018 and reported its findings at the June 2018 JCVI meeting. JCVI considers it is now in a position to conclude its advice and this statement sets out the key aspects and final conclusions of the Committee.