A lot has been written about HPV and cervical cancer. So much, in fact, that most people don’t even realise men can also get HPV, and that they can get HPV-related cancers too. Indeed, men have largely been ignored in the media and promotion of the HPV vaccine.
Boys have been included in the Australian school-based HPV vaccination program since 2013. But preliminary results of research with male adolescents and their parents suggest there’s low awareness and understanding about the vaccine.
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Adolescent boys aren’t sure what the vaccine is for, nor why they need to get it; parents think their sons are not at risk of HPV-related cancers. But HPV can cause a range of cancers in both men and women, in sites other than the cervix. These include cancers of the anus and genitals, as well as cancers of the head, neck, and throat.
