FDA recommends HPV vaccine for boys

An advisory committee of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is recommending that the HPV vaccine Gardasil be made available for young men. Originally approved for young women in 2006, Gardasil was created as a prevention and protection against contracting certain strains of the sexually transmitted infection (STI) that lead to cervical cancer, according to WebMD.

HPV is the most common STI and, according to the American Social Health Association, infects 75% of sexually active women and men in their lifetime; women and men. As HPV does not only affect women, it will be an important step towards global sexual health to make available the vaccine to the entire population, not just women.

Anna Giuliano, an independent scientist at Moffit Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, and the trials' principal investigator, said that results from the global study have shown a 90 percent reduction in HPV and related diseases in the 5,400 male subjects, as reported to CNN.


By expanding Gardasil’s impact on the reduction of HPV and related diseases to include men, the vaccine will no longer be just one of the most important advances in women’s health care, but basic health care as well.