NEW England has one the highest vaccination rates for the human papillomavirus (HPV) in girls, but local doctors say boys need to lift their game when it comes to immunisation.
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New figures revealed full HPV immunisation rates 15-year-old females had climbed nationally to about 79 per cent.
Girls of the New England North West are batting above the Australian average, and are close to setting the benchmark, with 82.3 per cent vaccinated.
Meanwhile, only 69.7 per cent of boys in the region have had the three-dose vaccination by the age of 15.
“Boys don’t just assist in the spread of HPV through sexual contact,” Tamworth GP Casey Sullivan said.
“Boys also suffer later in life with penile, rectal, mouth and throat cancers.”
It’s the first time male immunisation rates against HPV have been identified at a local level.
The National HPV vaccination program was only extended to males in 2013 and Dr Sullivan said parents were still more aware of their vaccinations for their daughters rather than their sons.
“We start to be exposed to this virus from our first sexual intercourse,” she said.
“However, if we vaccinate teens before they become sexually active, vaccinations will help reduce cervical cancer in adult women, and help reduce the spread of HPV.”
NSW Health director of communicable diseases Dr Vicky Sheppeard said while rates were improving, 20 per cent of 12 to 13 year-old boys were not vaccinated against HPV
“In NSW, extended catch-up vaccinations are offered to students who commence, but do not complete, the three-dose course of HPV vaccine in Year 7,” Dr Sheppeard said.
Nationally, the percentage of girls fully immunised at age 15 has continued to improve, from 72 per cent in 2012–13, to about 74 per cent in 2013–14, and almost 79 per cent in 2014–15.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) report is the first to include local-level rates for boys.
It showed nationally, more than two-thirds of boys aged 15 were fully immunised in 2014–15, while rates across Primary Health Network areas ranged from about 57 per cent to 78 per cent.
“HPV immunisation rates are a bit lower for boys than for girls, but the program is newer for boys and rates are expected to improve over time,” AIHW spokesperson Michael Frost said.