The COVID-19 pandemic has cast a spotlight on the importance of vaccinations, as well as their risks and benefits.
In Singapore, while there is a recommendation for all girls between ages 12-14 to be vaccinated against HPV under the National Childhood Immunisation Schedule , there is currently no such recommendation for males.HPV, or Human Papillomavirus, is a prevalent virus that affects 90 per cent of the general population at some point in their life.
Authorities will take these factors into account and decide whether a vaccine should be recommended for the population.Singapore has a great national immunisation programme that is effective in preventing many communicable diseases which can cause serious conditions or prevent long-term complications from infections.
While some may argue that are other serious conditions that we should focus our vaccination resources on, many of these conditions are rare in Singapore — meningococcal, for instance, saw only nine cases reported in 2018. Bear in mind that 90 per cent of the general population may be infected with HPV at some point in their lifetime.
In addition, while the risk of penile cancers or anal cancers caused by HPV is small compared to cervical cancer risk in females, given there is an effective and safe vaccine, we should encourage teen boys to protect themselves and their future loved ones as much as possible.
Importantly, getting our teens to vaccinated against HPV is in NO way encouraging them to be “promiscuous”. The fact is that they will have sex sometime in the future — and, even if they only ever have sex with just one person, they can still get infected.
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