Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the costs and benefits to the NHS of widening access to the HPV vaccine known as Gardasil.

The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme for girls was introduced in 2008 to reduce future incidence of cervical cancer. This was based on the recommendation of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the independent expert body that advises ministers on immunisation matters, and took into account a range of evidence including costs and benefits to the National Health Service.

In October 2013 JCVI considered a potential extension of the HPV programme to adolescent boys. Modelling was requested to re-examine the impact and cost-effectiveness of extending the HPV vaccination programme to adolescent boys which should be completed later this year. JCVI will then make a formal assessment of the cost-effectiveness of HPV vaccination for boys.

JCVI advised that a programme for men who have sex with men (MSM) is introduced for those aged up to 45, subject to procuring the vaccine at a cost effective price. Following this advice, Public Health England and its partners have introduced a pilot HPV programme for MSM in England in 2016. The pilot will continue in 2017-18 and will inform decisions on the potential national roll-out of a HPV vaccination programme for MSM.