Cariboo boys in grade 6 will now qualify for a free HPV vaccine as well as girls.
The Canadian Cancer Society is applauding the BC Government’s decision to provide the HPV vaccine to all genders.
Megan Klitch is a Health Promotion Coordinator from Prince George…
“The HPV virus does not discriminate based on gender. HPV infection is associated with a number of anogenital cancers. And in the past an HPV vaccine was offered for girls because not as much was known about how the HPV virus effects boys.”
Klitch says this is a significant step forward in preventing cancer.
She says around 61 percent of eligible girls in northern BC received the vaccine last year and she hopes that figure will increase to 70 percent for all genders this September.