HPV vaccination

Mouth cancer rates in the UK have risen by almost 300 per cent percent within the last three decadesand are predicted to rise by more than a third again before 2035.

The charity believes an increase in human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is responsible for the alarming rise and has branded the UK’s current HPV vaccination programme as inadequate, unfair and discriminatory against males and putting millions of lives at risk.

Nigel Carter OBE, CEO of the Oral Health Foundation, said, “For far too long men have been excluded from being provided a simple and potentially lifesaving HPV vaccine and this will undoubtedly contribute to the enormous increase in mouth cancer cases.

“Girls have been offered a HPV vaccination through schools to protect against cervical cancer for almost a decade now and it has saved countless lives; the debate around a gender neutral vaccination has continued for almost this long with no conclusion.

“A decision on a gender neutral vaccination has been repeatedly and unfairly delayed by the Government; every year this wait goes on it means hundreds and thousands of boys miss out on receiving a potentially lifesaving vaccination and remain unprotected from the most common sexually transmitted infection in the world.