The vaccine against the HPV human papillomavirus virus will also become available for boys. That is what State Secretary Blokhuis (Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport VWS) wrote Friday 27 September in a letter to the Lower House. From 2021, the vaccination will be included in the National Immunisation Programme. Every year about 1,000 women and 500 men get cancer from the virus. The vaccine protects against this.

Boys who are infected with HPV can develop penis, anus, mouth and throat cancer. "By offering boys the HPV vaccine, we kill two birds with one stone. Boys are then protected against the virus and are therefore less likely to suffer from terrible diseases such as throat cancer. Moreover, both boys and girls are even better protected by group protection”, Blokhuis said.

From 2021 in the National Immunisation Programme

The vaccine will be included in the vaccination programme for boys in 2021. Another measure taken by Blokhuis is that children will be vaccinated against HPV sooner. From 2021, all children will receive the vaccine when they are nine years old. People who have missed the vaccine will get the chance to catch up again when they are 14 or between 16 and 17 years old. Until the vaccine is included in the National Vaccination Programme in 2021, boys and 18-year-olds will not yet be offered the vaccine from the programme. People who want the vaccination in advance, can discuss this with their family doctor or vaccination centre. More information can be found here.

Highest turnout

Girls have been vaccinated against the virus since 2010 because it causes cervical cancer. Never before has the turnout been as high as last year. Of the girls born in 2006, 65 per cent had their first vaccination.