Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to increase the uptake of the HPV vaccine by (a) girls and (b) boys.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) works closely with charities such as Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust and the Teenage Cancer Trust to develop resources to raise awareness and educate young girls and boys about the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine and related cancers. The UKHSA has helped develop education resources for schools called EDUCATE, co-developed with teenagers and the Health Protection Research Unit on Behavioural Science and Evaluation.

School Aged Immunisation Service (SAIS) providers have continuously been focusing on HPV programme recovery since the pandemic and the school closures, and have robust catch-up plans in place for HPV vaccination based on population need, and utilising opportunities from the HPV programme change in September 2023 to deliver further catchup activities from the academic year 2023/24 using innovative models.

The UKHSA monitors uptake for immunisation programmes for teenagers. Annual published statistics help local NHS Screening and Immunisation teams develop plans to improve uptake and reduce inequalities in collaboration with key partners, including Directors of Public Health, and teams in local authorities.